Eminent physicist Ajoy Roy passed away in a Dhaka hospital on Monday (Dec 9) afternoon.

He was 85.

The father of slain activist Avijit Roy breathed his last at around 12:00 pm while undergoing treatment at BIRDEM hospital in Dhaka.

Director of BIRDEM Hospital Brigadier General (Retd) Shahidul Haque Mollik confirmed this to media.

Ajoy Roy, a retired professor of physics at the Dhaka University, was admitted to the hospital on Nov 25 with fever and respiratory illness.

Later on Nov 27, he was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital as his health condition deteriorated.

In 2012, he received Ekushey Padak, the highest civilian award of Bangladesh.

Prof Roy, also a founder of Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, played a key role in the movement for the trial of war criminals.

Ajoy Roy participated in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 as a freedom fighter. He was one of the teachers of Dhaka University who were directly involved with the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971, paramilitary as a member of Mukti Bahini involving in guerrilla warfare in Comilla border to fight against the Pakistani army.

Later he became a member of the Planning Commission to the Government of Bangladesh during the liberation war and worked as a General Secretary of East Pakistan Teachers' association in Kolkata.

On Feb 26, 2015, blogger Avijit Roy, an American citizen, was murdered near the Teacher-Student Centre (TSC) of DU while attending the Amar Ekushey Book Fair. His wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya was severely wounded in the attack.