Counterterrorism investigators are set press charges against seven suspects in the 2015 killing of writer-blogger Avijit Roy.
“The investigation is at its final stages. It has been found that 10 to 12 operatives of banned militant outfit Ansar al Islam were involved in the killing. The chargesheet will name several of them as suspects. However, not all of them as details on their identities are yet to be found,” said Deputy Commissioner Mahibul Islam Khan of the Dhaka metro police’s counterterrorism unit.
According to people close to the probe, one of the suspects was killed two years ago in what the police claimed as a shootout while identities of three suspects are yet to be confirmed. The suspects in custody have only provided with aliases, they say.
Bangladeshi American writer, Avijit Roy, who founded the blog ‘Muktomona’ (free thinkers) and his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya were attacked on the night of Feb 26, 2015 on the Dhaka University Campus.
Machete-wielding men attacked the couple as they came out from the Ekushey Book Fair.
Avijit suffered a deep gash on his head and died while Bonya survived but lost a finger in the assault.
Islamist zealots had been threatening Avijit, a bioengineer and a naturalised US citizen, for his active campaign against Islamist radicals, for quite some time.
His father Ajay Roy, a well-known physicist who has taught at the Dhaka University for a long time, started a police case over the incident.
Since the killing of Avijit, several others, including online activists, writers, publishers, members from the minority communities have been attacked or killed in similar fashion by machete-wielding attackers, targeting the head to ensure immediate death.
Counter-terror investigators say they have so far made 12 arrests over the killing and three of them have confessed before a magistrate.
However, the suspected mastermind sacked Bangladesh Army major Syed Ziaul Haque is yet to be traced. Investigators say that Zia is in charge of the military wing of Ansar Al Islam.
According to the three suspects who confessed, Zia was at Dhaka University on the day and coordinated at the attack on Avijit and his wife.
They said that seven people, including Zia, took part in the assassination.