Parents of bloggers Avijit Roy and Oyasiqur Rahman Babu as well as secular activists expressed frustration as detectives have made no visible progress in investigating the killings, except for preparing a list of suspects and questioning several others.
The law enforcers say they are now verifying their identities and hunting for the suspects.
Although they claim that both killings were conducted by Islamist militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team, no mastermind behind the killings could be arrested yet. Redwanul Azad Rana, the only identified Ansarullah leader suspected for the murders, already fled the country.
The government is also dilly-dallying over banning the outfit, members of which have primarily targeted secular forces. Linked with international terrorist groups such as Taliban and al-Qaeda, Ansarullah aims at establishing Shariah rule in the country together with Jamaat-e-Islami, Hefazat-e-Islam, and banned outfits – Huji, JMB and Hizb ut-Tahrir, detectives say.
Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the Detective Branch (DB) of police, whose team is investigating both the cases, said: “A list of suspects has already been prepared in the Avijit murder. Once they are arrested, we will definitely unearth the mystery.”
Asked about link between the two murders, the DB chief said: “We cannot confirm it. According to primary information, Ansarullah members were behind the killings but the attackers may be different.”
US probe agency FBI is assisting the DB in the Avijit murder case.
Assailants hacked Avijit to death on February 26 on the Dhaka University campus and Oyasiqur on March 30 in the Tejgaon area. Two of the three attackers in the Oyasiqur murder – Zikrullah and Ariful Islam – were held red-handed by two transgender persons while fleeing the scene. They are currently under police remand.
Members of Rapid Action Battalion arrested Hizb ut-Tahrir leader Shafiur Rahman Farabi soon after the Avijit murder as he had repeatedly instigated an attack on the US citizen and his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya for their writings.
Avijit’s father Prof Ajoy Roy and Oyasiqur’s father Tipu Sultan both expressed their frustration over the investigation process.
Farzana Kabir Khan, one of the top writers of the Mukto-Mona blog founded by Avijit, doubted whether the detectives were working properly.
“The extremists have supporters in the law enforcement agencies. If not, then how could the radicals attack Oyasiqur on March 30 even though their aide was arrested on March 24 with arms? How could Rana flee the country?”
Arifur Rahman, an expatriate secular writer, said: “These killings are a result of the reluctance of the law enforcers. They are not investigating the killing of progressive activists properly. It seems that militancy has been spreading across the country under the government’s patronisation.”
He expressed grievances since the government was not working to materialise its own pledges about uprooting militancy.
Activist Kallol Mustafa said even though a number of militants were held earlier, “the government is reluctant to identify the root of militancy and arrest the top leaders. We did not see a thorough probe in the attack on Prof Humayun Azad or the subsequent murders of progressive bloggers.”
Expatriate journalist Nirjhar Mazumder, who has long been following activities of extremist groups, said the killers might not be arrested since “there are many supporters and sympathisers of the radicals in the law enforcement agencies.”
Denouncing the murder of blogger Oyasiqur, Unesco Director-General Irina Bokova has urged action to bring the killers to trial. In a statement issued on Thursday, Bokova said: “It is important that the Bangladeshi authorities find and prosecute those responsible for this attack. Freedom of expression and free debate cannot thrive in a climate of fear and self-censorship.”
