Blogger Rajib murder death row convict Rana remanded in anti-terror case

Police will interrogate blogger Rajib murder death row convict Redwanul Azad Rana and his accomplice 'Ashraf' in a case filed under the Ant-Terrorism Act.

They were both arrested on Monday from Dhaka's Uttara and produced in court on Tuesday when police sought 10 days to question them.
 
Metropolitan Magistrate Mazharul Islam granted five days each for them in police custody.
 
In its remand plea, police said that Rana was holding a meeting in Uttara at the time of arrest and there were three to four others who managed to escape.  Jihadi literatures have been seized from the two and the police need to further question them on these.
 
On Feb 15 2013, blogger and Ganajagaran Mancha activist Ahmed Rajib Haider was hacked to death near his Mirpur residence at the capital.
 

The Ganajagaran Mancha describes Rajib as ‘the first martyr’ of their movement which seeks death for war criminals and a ban on Jamaat-e-Islami. File photo

The murder came within 10 days of the Ganajagaran Mancha starting a movement demanding the highest punishment to the war criminals.

Investigations revealed that Rana had planned the killing.

In December 2015, a Dhaka court

ordered

death sentences for Rana and Faisal Bin Noim Deep for the killing.

Another received life imprisonment while five others, including militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team chief Mufti Jashim Uddin Rahmani, got various jail terms.

The High Court has

kept

its verdict pending after hearings appeals by seven convicts.

Being a fugitive, Rana could not challenge the trial court's verdict.

According to police, Rana fled to Malaysia in late 2013 with passport made under fake name and address.

Investigators said he had been involved in militant activities in the Southeast Asian country for the last three years.

Malaysian authorities deported Rana recently following his arrest.

Police said that Rana and Ashraf were arrested on Monday from Dhaka's Uttara.