The Detective Branch (DB) of police on Thursday submitted a charge sheet accusing eight members of the banned militant group Ansar al-Islam of the 2015 killing of publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan.
The Jagriti Prokashoni owner was hacked to death inside his office at Aziz Super Market in Dhaka on October 31, 2015.
Dipan’s company had published a book written by writer-blogger Avijit Roy, who had been murdered on the campus of Dhaka University eight months previously.
Dipan’s widow, Dr Razia Rahman, filed a murder case with the city's Shahbagh police station on November 2, 2015 against unidentified assailants.
On Thursday, DB Assistant Commissioner (AC) Fazlur Rahman, also investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet to the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Sharafuzzaman Ansari.
Sub-inspector Md Mahbubur Rahman, the general recording officer (GRO) of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court, said the charge sheet will be produced before the court on December 18.
He said a total of 26 names were given as prosecution witnesses, including the plaintiff in the case.
The arrestees in the case include killing squad leader Moinul Hasan Shamim alias Sifat alias Shamim alias Samir, who has confessed to his role in Dipan’s killing and pointed out the wider role of the infamous “Major Zia” in the killing of bloggers.
Also in police custody are trainer Abdus Sabur alias Abdus Samad alias Sujon; top Ansar al-Islam operatives Khairul Islam alias Jamil alias Jisan; Sheikh Abdullah alias Jubayer alias Jayed; Abu Siddique Sohel alias Sajid alias Sihab; and Mozammel Hossain alias Saimon.
The other two accused are both still on the run: sacked army major Syed Ziaul Haque Zia, and Akram Hossain alias Hasib.
All eight suspects belonged to Ansar al-Islam, the group formerly known as Ansarullah Bangla Team. Ansar al-Islam is believed to represent al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) - a terrorist group which has claimed responsibility for 13 attacks since 2013.
AC Fazlur also mentioned that they came to learn about the involvement of Ansar al-Islam’s 11 other members in the killing, but their names were not mentioned in the charge sheet as the investigator did not find proof of their involvement.
“They will be named in a supplementary charge sheet once we get details or arrest them,” AC Fazlur said.
Monirul Islam, of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crimes (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said another suspect would be included through a supplementary charge sheet later, once he is formally identified.
“We are yet to identify the one other accused in the case even though we have a photo of him,” he said.
CTTC chief said six of the accused have already given their confessional statement to the court and admitted to their role in the killing.