Blogger murder accused dies in custody

An accused of blogger murders in Bangladesh died while undergoing treatment in jail police custody.

Abul Basher, 40, arrested for the murder of writer Avijit Roy and blogger Ananta Bijoy Das, died yesterday, Jahangir Kabir, senior jail superintendent of Dhaka Central Jail, told The Daily Star.

He was undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital since December 3, 2016 after he fell ill in prison. He succumbed to his ailment yesterday afternoon around 2:00pm. He was suffering from Hepatitis B. 

His body was handed over to family after autopsy, Jahangir Kabir said. 

Basher, who took over the charge of banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) after arrest of its chief Jasimuddin Rahmani, and planned the killings of Avijit and Bijoy, was arrested in September 2015.

Meanwhile, another prisoner, M Abdul Kader, 64, who was given death over the sensational Bushra rape and murder case but was acquitted by the Supreme Court recently, died last night, Jail Superintendent Jahangir Kabir confirmed.

Kader, a former relief and social welfare secretary of the Dhaka city unit of Awami League, died at around 8:00pm. He was hospitalised yesterday for liver and kidney complications.

In 2003, a Dhaka court sentenced Kader and two others to death and his wife Runu to life imprisonment and acquitted two others in the case.

Kader has been in jail since 2000 after he was arrested following the rape and murder of Rushdania Islam Bushra, then an 18-year old marketing student of City College and a daughter of police official late Serajul Islam, in the capital's Hazipara on June 1, 2000 over a land grabbing move.

He was awaiting release after the SC acquitted him in the case, however, the SC verdict was yet to reach prison, the senior jail super added.