Case transferred to special tribunal

A Dhaka court yesterday ordered transfer of Avijit Roy murder case to the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal for its quick disposal.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Sarafuzzaman Ansary passed the order after scrutinising the case dockets and other relevant documents.

Earlier on March 14, Md Monirul Islam, an inspector of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit, submitted a charge sheet before the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court.

The accused -- Mozammel Hossain alias Saymon, Abu Siddiq Sohel alias Sakib alias Sajid, Arafat Rahman Siam alias Sajjad, Akram Hossain Abir alias Adnan, Shafiur Rahman Farabi and Syed Mohammad Ziaul Haque -- belong to the banned militant outfit Ansar-Al-Islam.

Of them, Akram and Zia are on the run.

Writer-blogger Avijit, a Bangladesh-born US citizen, was stabbed to death on the Dhaka University campus while he, along with his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya, was returning from Ekushey book fair on February 26 of 2015. Bonya survived the attack.

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

The outfit targeted Avijit for his writings, especially for his two books -- “Obisshahser Dorshon” and “Biswasher Virus”.