Avijit Murder: Probe drags on for 2 yrs

Almost two years have passed since the murder of writer-blogger Avijit Roy, but police are yet to wrap up the investigation. 

A Dhaka court yesterday once again ordered the investigation officer of the murder case to submit the probe report to it by March 27.

Earlier, the court had fixed 21 dates for submission of the probe report by the IO, but the police failed to complete the probe.

Suspected militants hacked to death Avijit, founder of Mukto-Mona blog, near the Teacher-Student Centre on the Dhaka University campus on February 26, 2015. His wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya was also injured in the attack.

Victim's father Ajay Roy filed the murder case against unidentified assailants with Shahbagh Police Station.

The Bangladesh-born US citizen came home with his wife only a few days ago as his two books were published during the Ekushey Book Fair that year.

Police said they arrested eight suspects in the murder case, but could not arrest the masterminds behind the attack and those who directly took part in the killing mission.

Seven of the suspects -- Shafiul Rahman Farabi, Sadekur Rahman Mithu, Alimul Mallik, Towhidur Rahman, Julhaj Biswas and Jafran -- are now behind bars. Another suspect Abul Bashar, brother of the Ansarullah Bangla Team's (ABT) spiritual leader Jashim Uddin Rahmani, died in jail custody while undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.    

“We are trying to arrest the masterminds and those who carried out the attack. We have all information about them. Once some of them are arrested, we'll be able to submit the charge sheet to the court,” said Mashrukure Rahman Khaled, deputy commissioner of the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) and also the supervising officer of the case.    

The DMP on August 21 last year claimed to have identified six suspected killers of Avijit after analysing the CCTV footage captured on February 26, 2015 in and around the venue of Amar Ekushey Book Fair.

It posted seven video clips, captured moments before Avijit was murdered, on the DMP's official Facebook page and sought information from people that could lead to the arrest of the six suspects.

One of the seven video clips was released earlier. Police from that clip identified one as Sharif alias Saleh alias Arif alias Hadi and said he was a suspect. He was later killed in “crossfire” with law enforcers in the city's Khilgaon area on June 19 last year.

Sharif topped a list of six members of banned militant outfit ABT on whom police declared a bounty on May 19 last year.

DMP DC Mashrukure said suspected organiser of ABT Selim alias Iqbal alias Mamun alias Hadi-2 had led the operation to kill Avijit.

DB officials said Maj (sacked) Syed Ziaul Haq, who also uses pseudonyms Sagar, Ishtiaq and Imtiaz, administered oaths to the six ABT men at a Mohakhali hideout. The six later carried out the attack in two groups.

The ABT was later called Ansar al Islam and Zia is the chief of its operations wing.

According to the DB, the “ashkari group” took position at a rented house on Elephant Road and carried out the attack after receiving information from the “intel group”.

Police collected 11 kinds of evidence from the spot and sent those to the DNA lab of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, the DNA profiles did not match with those of the arrested suspects.  

As a rising militant outfit, the ABT wanted to launch al-Qaeda in Bangladesh like al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). But the AQIS headquarters in Pakistan did not approve the idea and suggested Ansarullah be renamed Ansar al Islam and work as the Bangladesh chapter of AQIS, said police.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, Ajay Roy yesterday said he was not satisfied with the progress of the investigation as police were yet to arrest all the killers of his son.

He expressed optimism that law enforcers would pick up the killers soon.