Six charged in Bangladesh over atheist blogger's murder

Six persons, including a sacked army major, were charged in Bangladesh on Monday with the gruesome murder of a controversial atheist blogger four years ago. Avijit Roy, a Bangladesh-born US national, was hacked to death by machete-wielding assailants in February 2015 while returning home with his wife from a Dhaka book fair. His wife, Rafida Ahmed, was seriously injured.

Police Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit chief Monirul Islam said at a press conference that the charge sheet has to be approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs before it is sent to the court, bdnews reported. Among the six accused in the murder are alleged Ansarullah Bangla Team leader and sacked military officer Major Syed Ziaul Haq and 'militant blogger' Safiur Rahman Farabi.

Of the accused, Ziaul Haq and Akram Hossain aka Abir are absconding. The remaining four are currently in prison. Investigators say all of the suspects, aside from Farabi, were members of the Ansarullah Bangla Team.

"Through testimony, analysis of information and evidence collected by our detectives, we have come to the conclusion that the mastermind of the attack was sacked military official and fugitive Major Zia," Islam said. The counter-terror unit's investigation found that 11 people were connected to the incident.

Investigators found the organisational aliases of the ten perpetrators, but have not been able to uncover the names and addresses of five of them. "If the names and addresses of the others are uncovered in the future, a supplemental charge sheet will be submitted and they will be brought to justice," Islam said.

Al Qaeda and Islamic State had claimed responsibility for a series of killings in Bangladesh over the past few years, including that of Roy. However, the government has denied the presence of such groups, blaming domestic militants instead.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)