Avijit murder: Charges framed against Zia, 5 ‘Ansar al Islam’ men

A Dhaka Court today framed charges against six leaders and activists of banned militant outfit Ansar Al Islam including Maj (sacked) Ziaul Haque in connection with the case filed over the killing of blogger and writer Avijit Roy.

Four of the accused, now in jail, pleaded not guilty and demanded justice after Judge Majibur Rahman of the Anti-terrorism Special Tribunal read out the charges to them.

The tribunal fixed September 11 for starting the trial of the case.

The court also issued arrest warrant against two accused including Zia as they were shown fugitives in the charge sheet.

On February 26 of 2015, US-based Bangladeshi blogger Avijit Roy was murdered near the Teacher-Student Centre of Dhaka University by a gang of assailants in an attack that also left his wife severely wounded.

Four people directly took part in the killing while others were staying nearby. Zia himself was present on the scene at the time of killing, they said.