ONE YEAR OF AVIJIT MURDER : Police yet to make any headway

The police failed to unravel the  murder of secular writer Avijit Roy in one year causing deep anguish to his wife and parents.
His parents expressed doubts whether the police were at all serious about nabbing the offenders.
Detective Branch officers  investigating the case said they could not yet arrest the actual murderers.
They said that they identified three persons who were either directly involved with the murder or were present at the scene as members of Ansarulla Bangla Team.
They said that they were certain that Avijit’s murder was planned by the banned outfit Ansrullah Bangla Team.
They also said that eight persons were arrested in connection with the case but there was no conclusive evidence to suggest that they took part in the murder though they were ABT operatives.
On February 26, Avijit was hacked to death on Dhaka University campus.
His wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya, a secular blogger suffered serious injuries in the attack.
The couple was leaving the Ekushey Book Fair at about 8 PM when they came under the attack.
On the eve of this year’s Ekushey Book Fair, Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia claimed at a news briefing  ‘significant progress’
had been achieved  in unraveling Avijit Roy’s murder mystery.
Pressed by reporters, he, however, could not say specifically what progress had been achieved in the investigations.
Only 15 days later, DMP additional commissioner Monirul Islam, who heads the capital’s counter terrorism unit, said that the case had been stalled due to refusal of the eight arrested persons to confess their involvement when they were produced before a court.
The second reason that stalled the case, he said, was that the police were yet to receive from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation the test results of  11 crime evidences.
He said the evidences collected from the crime scene were sent to the FBI lab.
Asked about progress in the probes, Monirul Islam said Thursday breakthroughs would be achieved soon in all the cases relating to murders and attacks on secular writers, bloggers and publishers.
He said, ‘We would no more  wait for the test report from the FBI lab.’
But after getting the FBI report, he said, DMP would cross-match it with the DNA samples of the eight arrested  persons as well as the evidence collected from the crime spot.
‘We are in touch with the FBI and they said they would need  time to resolve bureaucratic process’, he said.
The police were playing the same old record, said Avijit’s father, Ajoy Roy,  retired Dhaka University professor of physics when his comments were sought.
‘They treat me as an irritant  whenever I visit the police to seeks updates in investigations’, he said.
Ajoy said the visiting FBI agents spoke to him after the murder and ‘they did not communicate with us again.’
‘I am dissatisfied with the police investigations’, he said  in choked voice.
On March 5, last year, four FBI agents came to Dhaka to help the Detective Branch with the investigations into the murder of  Avijit, who was a US citizen.
On March 11, 2015, DB handed over all the evidence relating to the murder it had collected to the FBI for DNA test.
Eight detained ABT members include Shafiur Rahman Farabi, Sajeb Ali, Aminul Mallick, Julhash Biswash, Jafran Hasan, Abul Bashar, Sadek Alim and Tauhidir Rahman,  a British citizen of Bangladesh origin, said DB deputy commissioner Mashrukur Rahman Khaled, who supervises the investigations.
He said that two ABT operatives who were arrested at two places in the capital last week provided ‘significant information about the attacks and murders of secular writers, bloggers and publishers.
He also said that their involvement in the incidents were not found.
He said that the ABT operatives were arrested at  Badda and Mohammadpur after operations that lasted for hours.
Murders of five secular writers, bloggers and publishers including Avijit in last one year sent shock waves across the nation.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net