Avijit 'killer' Sharif’s real name is Mukul

The real name of the “militant”, who allegedly played key role in the murder of two bloggers and was killed in a “gunfight” with police, was Mukul Rana, according to his family.

Shariful’s family also said they are not sure whether he got involved with any group after moving to Dhaka from Satkhira.

Today, the family came to receive the body of Shariful, who died in a “gunfight” in the early hours of Sunday, at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

READ MORE: Silencing accused for whose benefit?

Police said Shariful (Mukul) led the assassination of writer Avijit Roy. A CCTV camera footage of the crime scene of February 26 last year appeared to show him following Avijit.

According to Shariful’s brother in-law Hedayetul Islam and cousin Rahmat, his real name was Mukul Rana. He was a student of Satkhira Government College.

Sharif (Mukul) was the youngest of three siblings. Earlier in February this year, he had visited Satkhira and was never seen there since. He got married that month.

His brother in-law Hedayet said the family did not know of his involvement in any political party. They did not know what he was doing in Dhaka. They even did not know that Sharif’s photo was out in the papers and there was a bounty on his head.

Hedayet said they came to Dhaka to receive the body after they saw his dead body on television.