The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) today pressed charges against eight members of banned militant outfit Ansar Al Islam including sacked army major Zia in connection with the killing of LGBT magazine editor Xulhaz Mannan and his friend Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy in 2016.

Inspector Md Monirul Islam of CTTC unit, also the investigating officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s court in Dhaka.

The eight accused in the charge sheet are: Syed Md Ziaul Huq alias Major Zia (sacked army major), 42; Akram Hossain; Sabbirul Haque Chowdhury, 26; Md Zunaid Ahmad alias Maulana Zuned alias Zunaid, 26; Mozammel Husain alias Saimon, 25; Md Arafat Rahman, 24; Md Sheikh Abdullah, 27; and Asadullah, 25.

Of them, Major Zia, Akram, Sabbirul and Zunaid have been shown absconding while the four others were shown arrested in the case.

Xulhaz, also a former official of USAID, was brutally hacked to death at his Kalabagan residence along with his friend Tonoy by the militants on April 25, 2016.

A case was filed with Kalabagan Police Station on the same day in this connection.

Initially, Detective Branch (DB) of DMP took over the investigation into the double murder incident.

Later, on November 15 in 2017, DMP’s CTTC unit took over the investigation and arrested four persons in connection with the killings.

Interrogation of the arrestees revealed the names of those involved in the planning and execution of the killings and the organisation behind them.