Prof Ajoy Roy, father of slain writer-blogger Avijit Roy, has urged the authorities concerned to let the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) team, now in Dhaka to assist the Bangladeshi law enforcement agencies in the probe, to work without any influence.
He went to the Detective Branch (DB) of police headquarters yesterday and talked with officials. “I requested them to find the killers as soon as possible,” the retired physics teacher of Dhaka University told reporters after the visit.
The DB asked him some questions to verify what they had got so far during the investigation. Prof Ajoy said two foreigners were present at that time. But he did not have idea if they were from the FBI. “No FBI men contacted me since they arrived here,” he said.
Avijit Roy, a Bangladesh-born US citizen, was killed and his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya seriously injured when unidentified criminals hacked them near the TSC roundabout on Dhaka University campus on February 26. Bonya was flown back to the US for better treatment on Monday.
The four-member FBI team arrived in Dhaka on Thursday. They visited the DB office and also the murder spot.
Prof Ajoy yesterday once again blamed the fundamentalists and militants for the murder of his son. “Avijit came to the country [on February 16] after three or four years. I never found him tensed or frightened. But we asked him to have some friends while going to the book fair and to return home before the night.”
The law enforcement agencies have so far arrested Shafiur Rahman Farabi, who had repeatedly issued death threats to Avijit. Farabi, who is now on a 10-day remand, confessed to threatening Avijit but denied his involvement in the murder. RAB said he was involved with banned Islamist outfit Hizb ut-Tahrir.
Ansarullah Bangla Team leader Redwanul Azad Rana – the prime suspect in the case – is yet to be arrested. Home State Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Thursday said the law enforcers had detained two other persons in the case, but would not disclose their names.
Meanwhile, DMP Commissioner Mohammad Asaduzzaman Miah claimed that they had made good progress in the investigation.
“Farabi can be a good source of information about the murder. We will interrogate him more,” he said.
About the FBI team, he said they had come to Dhaka since Avijit was a US citizen. “The case is being investigated by the DB. They have the ability to conduct the investigation...we have total faith on them. The FBI team will only assist them tactically,” he told reporters at his office.
“We have some limitations in analysing some evidences found in the social media. The FBI will help us in this regard,” he said.
Earlier, a probe committee formed to investigate the inaction of police personnel found that some officers had not performed their duties properly at the time of the attack.
