7 Jamaat-Shibir men held for Rajib murder

Seven activists of the Jamaat-e-Islami and their student wing the Islami Chhatra Shibir have been arrested in connection with the murder of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider, Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir has said.

The Minister was addressing a meeting of the Professionals Coordination Council at the Home Ministry on Wednesday. Journalists were present in that meeting.

He claimed that a lot of progress has been made into the murder of the Shahbagh activist saying, “The people who were directly and indirectly involved with this murder will be brought to justice as soon as possible. This is our promise.”

”I went to the scene of the crime soon after he was murdered. Rajib used to stay at his house from time to time. His wife and his parents did not live there with him.”

“The working theory is - this murder does not have any eye witnesses. His autopsy and the manner in which he was killed suggest that he was killed by Jamaat-Shibir men. The way he was hacked points towards Jamaat-Shibir, because no one else kills like that.”

Council leaders presented a nine point charter of demands that included actions against radicals belonging to Jamaat and Shibir and also the arrest of Amar Desh Acting Editor Mahmudur Rahman within 24 hours. They demanded that people responsible for killing journalists should also be brought to justice.

The council leaders urged the Home Minister to take strong steps against those who are trying to obstruct the trial of war criminals by ‘spreading lies and misinformation’.

The Home Minister then expressed solidarity with the council leaders saying, “These are also our demands.”

Law enforcers to combat strike

Law enforcers will take strong positions during the Jamaat-e-Islami enforced dawn to dusk nationwide shutdown scheduled for Thursday, according to Junior Minister for Home Shamsul Haque Tuku.

Jamaat called the strike on Thursday to apparently coincide it with a probable verdict on party leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee.

Tuku later told journalists, that the law enforcers would combat attempts by shutdown activists in order to prevent people from being harmed and their livelihood affected.