Dhaka: A Bangladeshi student accused of killing prominent secular blogger Ananta Bijoy Das has confessed to the crime, police said as they arrested one more person in connection with the brutal murder. Mannan Rahi, a student of English department at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), gave a confessional statement before a Sylhet court yesterday. In his statement, Rahi confessed his involvement in the gruesome killing, said Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Inspector Arman Ali.
Five people, including two students of SUST, hacked 33-year-old Das to death for “his write-ups”, claimed CID, quoting one of the “attackers”. “It is not possible to disclose further information at this moment for the sake of the investigation,” Daily Star quoted Rahmat Ullah, additional deputy commissioner (media) of Sylhet Metropolitan Police.
Das was hacked to death in Subid Bazar area of the city on May 12. He is among the four secular writers killed in brutal attacks this year. Earlier, the court had placed Rahi and his brother Mohaymen Roman, also an accused in the case, on a seven-day remand after their arrest on August 28. Meanwhile, police arrested another suspect, named Abul Khair, in connection with Das’s murder yesterday.
Abul was arrested from Sylhet and a magistrate court placed him on a seven-day remand, the newspaper said. Das was an activist of the Ganajagaran Mancha, the forum demanding a ban on religion-based parties and maximum penalty for convicted war criminals who carried out atrocities siding with the Pakistani troops in 1971.
Apart from Das, other bloggers killed this year are Washiqur Rahman, Avijit Roy, Niloy Neel. The murders of secular bloggers sparked international outrage with the UN, the US and Britain expressing concern against shrinking space for free thought.
