Detectives yesterday arrested two brothers for their alleged involvement in the brutal murder of secular writer Ananta Bijoy Das on May 12.
The duo – Mannan Yahya alias Hira alias Abdul Munim and Mohaymen Noman – were arrested from Kanaigath area of Sylhet early yesterday, Mirza Abdullahel Baqui, chief of CID’s organised crime unit, confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune.
Hira is an irregular student of English final year at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology. On the other hand, Noman took admission in Sylhet MC College after passing Fazil from Kanaighat Jhingabari Madrasa, Baqui told reporters at the Sylhet Metropolitan Police Headquarters.
“We are yet to get information about their political identity...But they are radicals. Hira used to operate four profiles on Facebook,” he added.
They were later produced before a Sylhet court which placed them on a seven-day police remand.
Earlier, Idris Ali, 30, a photojournalist of the local daily Shobuj Sylhet, was arrested on June 7 for his suspected involvement in the killing that took place in Subid Bazar area of Sylhet town on May 12. He is also a freelance contributor for the daily Sangbad.
Baqui said that they were scrutinising the information gleaned from Idris. “We are near the end of investigation in the case.”
Rahi and Roman’s arrest came only days after the detectives arrested three suspected members of banned militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team, including a planner and financier, from Dhaka in connection with the murders of Bijoy and his mentor Avijit Roy, founder of Mukto-Mona blog.
The CID official said that they would also interrogate the other suspects, arrested over the recent killings of bloggers, in Bijoy case.
A banker by profession, Bijoy was hacked to death by masked men armed with machetes near his house. The killers came on motorcycles and hacked Bijoy as he ran for life.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is investigating the case.
Earlier in May, a group named al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), believed to be linked with Ansarullah, claimed responsibility for the murders of Ananta and several other secular activists since 2013.
Ananta was the editor of science-based magazine Jukti, and he regularly contributed to the Mukto-Mona blog. Evolution was one of the central themes of many of his articles. He was also critical of religion-based politics and Jamaat-e-Islami.
Ananta also received the Mukto-Mona Rationalist Award in 2006. He wrote several books including Parthib, 2001 (co-authored with Saikat Chowdhury), Darwin: Ekhush Shatake Prasongikota Ebong Bhabna, and Soviet Union-e Bigyan O Biplob: Lisenko Odday.