The trial of writer-blogger Avijit Roy murder has opened with his father Prof Ajoy Roy testifying in the court.
Acting judge Jesmin Ara Begum of Dhaka's Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal recorded the testimony of two witnesses people including Prof Ajoy on Monday (Oct 28), court official Ruhul Amin told Bangla Tribune.
After that, defence's counsels cross-examined the witnesses.
On the day, the court also set Nov 18 for the next hearing in the case, Amin said.
On Aug 1, the tribunal framed charges against six people, including sacked army Major Syed Ziaul Haque alias Major Zia, in the Avijit murder case.
The other five accused are Abu Siddique Sohel alias Shahab, Mozammel Hossain alias Saymon alias Shahriar, Arafat Rahman alias Siam, Shafiur Rahman Farabi, and Akram Hossain alias Abir alias Adnan.
Of them, Arafat, Saymon, and Sohel - have already given confessional statements before the court.
Among the accused, Zia and Akram are absconding, and all are members of banned militant outfit Ansar al-Islam, formerly known as Ansarullah Bangla Team.
On Apr 11, the tribunal accepted charge sheet filed against the six in the case and dropped the name of 15 from the list of accused.
According to the charge sheet, Zia ordered the murder of Avijit during the Amar Ekushey Book Fair at the Bangla Academy on the Dhaka University (DU) campus in 2015.
Although 12 people were involved in the murder of Avijit, the identities of five militants could not be confirmed and one died during a “gunfight,” the charge sheet said.
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.
Following the murder, a case filed with the capital's Shahbagh police, and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Detective Branch (DB) began the investigation. Later, the investigation was transferred to the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit.