Another militant suspect arrested, admits to killing Avijit Roy: Police

After arresting a suspected member of militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team, police have said he was ‘directly involved’ in the murder of writer-blogger Avijit Roy in 2015.

Senior Correspondentand Court Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 19 Nov 2017, 05:07 PM
Updated : 19 Nov 2017, 05:07 PM

Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Counterterrorism and Transnational Crime or CTTC unit arrested the suspect, Mozammel Hossain alias ‘Saimon’, at Baunia of Turag in the capital on Saturday, the law enforcers said.

DMP spokesperson Md Masudur Rahman told bdnews24.com on Sunday that Mozammel is known as ‘Shahriar’ in his outfit.

DMP Detective Branch Inspector Fazlur Rahman, who is investigating the case now, produced him in court, where he gave a confessional statement, on Sunday.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ahsan Habib ordered him into jail after recording his statement.

“Mozammel said in the statement that he was directly involved in Avijit Roy murder,” Masudur, a DMP deputy commissioner, said.

According to Masudur, the suspect said he took part in the killing on ‘orders and supervision’ by top Ansarullah leader Ziaul Haque.

“Mozammel is one of those seen in the video footage of the murderers,” the DMP spokesperson said.

On Nov 5, police arrested Md Abu Siddique Sohel, 34, at Mohammadpur in Dhaka for his suspected connection with the murder.

Sohel is a member of the intelligence team of banned militant outfit Ansar-al Islam, formerly the Ansarullah Bangla Team, police said.

Sohel was also among those identified in the CCTV footage, police said. He also confessed to taking part in the murder of Avijit, according to the law enforcers.  

Avijit was a regular bdnews24.com columnist and the founder of popular blog Muktomona. He is the son of well-known physicist Ajay Roy.

Avijit was hacked to death on a footpath at the TSC after he came out of the Ekushey Book Fair on Feb 26 of 2015.

The writer had flown all the way to Bangladesh from the United States to visit the book fair despite threats from militants who were enraged by his write-ups.

His wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya also lost a finger in the machete blows.

Eleven people were accused in the case that Prof Ajay Roy started with the Shahbagh Police following the incident.

One of them, Sadeque Hossain Mithu, moved the trial court on Aug 29 for bail but failed to secure it.

Towhidur Rahman Gama, Shafiur Rahman Farabi, Aminul Mallick, Julhas Biswas, Md Zafran Hasan and Mannan Yahia are currently behind bars.