Case filed over blogger Avijit murder
Dhaka: A case has been filed on Friday morning in connection with the killing of blogger Avijit Roy on Thursday night.
Victim’s father, Ajay Roy, a former professor of Dhaka University, filed the case with Shahbagh Police at about 9:00am.
Shahbagh Police officer-in-charge Sirajul Islam told NTV online that the case has been filed against unnamed miscreants.
Shahbagh Police sub-inspector Subrata Kumar Goldar is appointed to investigate the case.
Blogger Avijit Roy was hacked to death by miscreants on Dhaka University campus at about 9:30pm on Thursday.
Attackers also hacked and wounded Avijit’s wife Rafida Ahmed Banya who was accompanying him at the time of attack.
Police said a group of men attacked the couple and hacked them with cleavers at TSC’s Bat Tala area. It was reported that attackers mostly hit on their heads.
Seriously wounded, they were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where Avijit, who is also a photojournalist, died at 10:30pm, confirmed DMCH police outpost in charge inspector Mozammel Haque.
DMCH emergency unit duty doctor Sohel Ahmed told NTV Online that excessive blood loss and internal brain injury caused death of Avijit. ‘There were at least nine signs of stab on his head,’ he added.
He also said that Rafida Ahmed’s condition was stable.
‘He was a secular humanist and has written about ten books’ including his most famous ‘Biswasher Virus’ (Virus of Faith), Avijit’s father Ajoy Roy told AFP.
The Center for Inquiry, a US-based charity promoting free thought, said it was ‘shocked and heartbroken’ by the brutal murder of Roy. ‘Dr Roy was a true ally, a courageous and eloquent defender of reason, science, and free expression, in a country where those values have been under heavy attack,’ it said in a statement.
His killing also triggered condemnation from his fellow writers and publishers. ‘The attack on Roy and his wife Rafida Ahmed is outrageous. We strongly protest this attack and are deeply concerned about the safety of writers,’ Imran H. Sarker, head of an association for bloggers in Bangladesh, told AFP. Avijit is the founder of Bangla blog ‘Mukto Mona’ and is a writer. He is the son of former Dhaka University physics professor Ajoy Roy. The professor visited DMCH after the incident.
Dhaka University acting proctor Amzad Ali, during his visit at DMCH, said they had come to know that the writer used to receive threats from different quarters for his write-ups.
‘He might have been killed for the write-ups,’ he said and suspected that the killers of popular writer Humayun Azad might have been from same quarter.
During a visit, it was found that the police officials and Criminal Investigation Department officials was securing the crime scene.
While contacted, Ramna Division police assistant commissioner Shibli Noman said they were suspecting that the blogger might have been killed for his write-ups in blogs against militancy groups.
‘There are similarities between the case of Humayun Azad and blogger Rajib killing with this case. We have recovered two cleavers and a bag from the spot,’ he said.
Avijit Roy is used to live with his wife in the USA. He was popular for his widely read blog ‘Mukto Mona’ of which he was the founder too. There are about a dozen books written by him.