The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Police has finalized the charge sheet accusing six people for the murder of US-based Bangladeshi blogger Avijit Roy, four years after his murder.
In an unscheduled press briefing at the DMP media center, CTTC unit Chief Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, Monirul Islam, said the charge sheet was sent to the Home Ministry for approval, on Monday.
On February 26, 2015, blogger Avijit Roy, an American citizen, was murdered near the Teacher-Student Centre (TSC) of Dhaka University while attending the Amar Ekushey Book Fair. His wife, Rafida Ahmed Bonya, was severely wounded in the attack.
A total of 11 people have been found to be involved in the murder case.
CTTC said the accused belong to Ansar Al Islam (formally known as Ansarullah Bangla Team) and said they have received organizational names of five others who were involved in the murder but are yet to be identified. The CTTC chief also said a supplementary charge sheet will be submitted once the names and addresses of the five other people are confirmed.
CTTC said Syed Mohammad Ziaul Huq alias Major Zia, has been determined as the direct supervisor of Avijit’s murder and was present at the time of the attack.
Abu Siddique Sohel, alias Shakib, alias Sazid, Mozammel Hossain alias Saimon, Shafiur Rahman Farabi, Akram Hossain Abir alias Adnan, and Arafat Rahman Siam alias Sazzad, are the other five on the charge sheet.
Three of the accused, Arafat, Saymon, and Sohel have already given confessional statements before the court.
Shafiur Rahman Farabi is a fundamentalist blogger who has been charged with inciting Avijit’s murder. He was arrested two months after Avijit’s murder by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on March 2, 2105.
“Although Farabi was not directly involved in the attack, he has been charged with incitement as his writing provoked the attack,” said CTTC’s Monirul Islam.
Police said Farabi posted pictures of Avijit with his family and threatened to kill him when he returned to the country, in different statuses and comments.
Avijit Roy was the son of noted physicist Ajay Roy. Avijit Roy was the founder of the popular secular blog “Muktomona.” He had come to Bangladesh to take part in the book fair despite threats from militants that year.
His father filed a case over Avijit’s murder at Shahbagh Police Station soon after the incident. He has expressed his disappointment with the slow progress of the investigation.
RAB has also arrested eight persons for their alleged involvement in the murder.
In-charge of the investigation, CTTC’s Monirul Islam said they released seven others arrested by RAB as they were found not to have been involved in the attack.