Bounty for 6 ABT men

Releasing photos of six alleged Ansarullah Bangla Team men, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police yesterday put bounties on them claiming that they were “involved” in the killings of bloggers, writers and an LGBT rights activist.

A bounty of Tk 5 lakh was declared for two ABT organisers and Tk 2 lakh each for four members of the banned militant outfit, according to the DMP website.

The suspected organisers of ABT are: “Shariful alias Sakib alias Sharif alias Saleh alias Arif alias Hadi” and “Selim alias Iqbal alias Mamun alias, Hadi-2”, the website claimed.

The alleged ABT members are: “Sifat alias Samir alias Imran; Samad alias Sujan alias Raju alias Salman alias Sadh; Shihab alias Suman alias Saiful; and Sajjad alias Sajeeb alias Siam alias Shams”.

The Daily Star is not publishing the photos as it could not independently verify the police claim.

Police in the website said the Detective Branch (DB) of police of the DMP is investigating the killings of bloggers, and a publisher with utmost importance.

On February 19, two “active members” of the ABT were detained, the website read.

On the basis of the confessional statements of the two detainees, the detectives “got detailed information on the six ABT members” whose photographs were released yesterday, according to the website.

The DMP also sought cooperation from all to help law enforcers arrest them.

Several bloggers, a publisher, an LGBT rights activist and his friend were hacked to death by suspected militants in Bangladesh in the last few years.