A Dhaka court has fixed September 17 for hearing the framing of charges against eight accused members of the banned militant outfit Ansar al-Islam for the killing of Faisal Arefin Dipan.
Judge Md Mujibur Rahman of the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal in Dhaka fixed the date for the charge framing hearing on Thursday, while police had not produced one of the accused, Abdus Sabur, before the court. So the public prosecutor filed a petition for time before the court.
On March 20 the court accepted the charges in presence of the six out of eight accused in the case.
The arrestees in the case include killing squad leader Moinul Hasan Shamim alias Sifat alias Shamim alias Samir, who had 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.
On November 15, 2018 the investigation officer of the case submitted the charge sheet against the eight accused to the court of Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate.
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 earlier.
Dipan’s widow, Dr Razia Rahman, filed a murder case with Shahbagh police station on November 2, 2015 against unidentified assailants.