The Rapid Action Battalion said that Shariful Islam, a suspected militant in the Holey Artisan Bakery attack killed Rajshahi University professor AFM Rezaul Karim Siddiquee on the orders of the JMB Amir.
“He (Shariful) started to keep eye on the professor since a month before the killing,” RAB media wing official chief Mufti Mahmud Khan told the media on Saturday (Jan 26).
“The joint decision between the militant organization and JMB Amir led to Rezaul’s murder,” he added.
Khan said that the suspects collected personal information on the professor from local JMB operatives and Shariful was the mission head.
Earlier on Friday, RAB arrested Shariful Islam who is also a suspect in the Holey Artisan Bakery attack. He is also a death row convict in the murder of Rajshahi University professor Rezaul Karim.
On the morning of Apr 23, 2016, Prof Siddiquee was hacked to death, only 50 yards from his residence in the city’s Shalbagan while he was on his way to the university.
The murder followed the familiar pattern witnessed in the killings of teachers, bloggers and online activists as well as foreigners — a use of sharp weapons to target the head or neck.
In May of 2018, a court in Rajshahi awarded the death penalty to two people and sentenced three others for life over the murder.