Killers wanted to stop him from writing

The killers of Ananta Bijoy Das wanted to stop him writing and also to silence those who champion the cause of free speech.

Judge Muhammad Nurul Amin Biplob of the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal in Sylhet made the observation yesterday while handing down death sentence to four for killing Ananta, a science writer and blogger, on May 12, 2015.

The tribunal also fined each of them Tk 20,000.

One of the accused was acquitted as the charges against him could not be proven.

Ananta, who was the editor of Jukti, a magazine promoting freethinking, was attacked by four men with machetes near his home in Sylhet city's Subidbazar area. A banker by profession, he was on his way to Pubali Bank's Jawbazar branch in Sunamganj.

In a tweet, banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team claimed responsibility for the murder. But the prosecution could not prove ABT's link to the incident, said the court.

The convicts are Abul Khaer Rashid Ahmed, Abul Hossain alias Abul Hussain, Harun Ur Rashid and Faisal Ahmed.

Of them, Rashid is now in jail. The rest are on the run.

The one acquitted is Shafiur Rahman Farabi, who is in jail in connection with the murder of blogger Avijit Roy.

'CONVICTS BELIEVED IN RADICAL IDEOLOGIES'

The murder of Ananta was part of a series of attacks on freethinkers, writers and bloggers.

Ahmed Rajib Haider, also known as Thaba Baba, was killed on February 15, 2013. He was the first one to be killed by ABT in such attacks.

According to media reports, 48 people, including 20 foreign nationals, were murdered till June 2, 2016.

Ananta's brother Ratneswar Das filed a murder case a day after his brother was killed. The court has delivered the verdict around seven years later.

The verdict was pronounced around 12:45pm, a few minutes after Rashid and Farabi were produced before the court amid tight security.

The judge said the convicts killed Ananta for his writings as they believed in radical ideologies. They targeted those who spoke in favour of science and liberal thoughts.

The judge also observed that the convicts deserve capital punishment. If they are not given that penalty, others with similar beliefs will be encouraged to commit similar crimes, he said.

Ananta's brother-in-law Somor Bijoy Shee said, "We now want the execution of the verdict as soon as possible.  We also urge the authorities to arrest the absconding convicts immediately."

He said they would go to the High Court to challenge the acquittal order.

Ananta's father Rabindra Kumar Das died in 2019, and his mother Pijush Rani Das has long been suffering from old age complications.

On October 2, 2016, CID Inspector Arman Ali, investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet in the case, but the court rejected it. It then ordered the CID to reinvestigate the case and submit a supplementary charge sheet, which was filed in May 2017.

The charge-sheeted accused were Farabi, Mannan Yahya alias Mannan Rahi, Abul Khaer Rashid Ahmed, Abul Hossain alias Abul Hussain, Harun Ur Rashid and Faisal Ahmed.

Of them, Mannan Yahya, the only accused to have confessed before the court his involvement in the murder, died on November 2, 2017, after he fell ill at Dhaka Central Jail.

The trial started in Sylhet Additional Metropolitan Judge's court and later in 2020, after the formation of the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal, the case was transferred to the tribunal.

The tribunal recorded testimonies of 24 witnesses out of 29 named in the charge sheet. The court also recorded testimonies of four witnesses.

The trial ended on March 14 and the tribunal that day set yesterday for delivery of the verdict.