‘Militant’ accused in Avijit murder case held

The law enforcers today claimed to have arrested an alleged militant accused in writer Avijit Roy killing case.

Mojammel Hossain alias Saimun, chief of media wing and intelligent wing of the banned militant outfit Ansar Al Islam, was arrested in Baunia embankment area of Turag in Dhaka yesterday afternoon, Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), told The Daily Star.

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His organising name is Shahriar, Masudur Rahman said.

Ansar al Islam, said to be the Bangladesh chapter of al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

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Tipped off, a team of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of the DMP launched a drive in the area around 4:35pm yesterday and arrested him, he said.

According to the CTTC, Mojammel, who used to conduct the Facebook page -- Balakat media, Al Hikma media, Onusondhitsu media, primarily confessed to the law enforcers that he was directly involved in the killing mission of Avijit.

Avijit, a Bangladesh-born US citizen, was hacked to death on Dhaka University campus when he along with his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya was returning from the book fair that day in 2015. Bonya was critically injured in the attack.

He came to Bangladesh with his wife as his two books were published during that year's book fair.