Another held over Avijit murder

Law enforcers on Friday night arrested a youth from Baradeshi area of Aminbazar in Savar in connection with blogger and writer Avijit Roy murder case.

The arrestee was identified as Arafat Rahman Siyam alias Sajjad, 24, said Masudur Rahman, Deputy Commissioner (Media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

A team of Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) and Detective Branch members conducted a drive the area and arrested Arafat around 7 pm.

After his arrest Arafat confessed to his involvement with several sensational murders including Avijit, USAID staff Xulhaz Mannan, blogger Niladri Chattopadhyay Niloy and publisher Faisal Arefin Dipon, he said.

The mastermind of Avijit assassination Mukul Rana alias Sharif while Arafat along with his two accomplices executed the murder by hacking Avijit and his wife at Teacher Student Centre (TSC), he said.

CTTC members so far has arrested 11 people in connection with Avijit murder. Among them two have already gave confessional statement in court.

Avijit Roy, a Bangladesh-born US citizen and founder of Mukto-Mona blog, was hacked to death, and his wife Rafida Afrin Banya was injured as unidentified killers attacked them with meat cleavers near TSC on the Dhaka University Campus on February 26 in 2015.   

Xulhaz Mannan and his friend Mahbub Tanoy, an activist of theatre group Loknatya Dal, were hacked to death by some unidentified miscreants at an apartment in the capital’s Kalabagan area on April 25 in 2015.

On August 7 in 2015, blogger Niloy, a resident of a rented flat on the 4th floor of a multi-storey building at Goran in the capital, was hacked to death by a group of assailants.

Faisal Arefin Depon was also hacked to death at Aziz Super Market at Shahbagh on October 31 in 2015.

Source: unb