B’DESH INDICTS ISLAMIST HEAD FOR 2013 KILLING OF BLOGGER

DHAKA: A court in Bangladesh on Wednesday indicted a leader of a radical Islamist group and seven students on charges of hacking a secular blogger to death two years ago.

Metropolitan sessions court judge Mohammed Ruhul Amin made the decision in a packed room as he accepted the probe by the police that Mufti Jasimuddin Rahmani, the head of radical group Ansarullah Bangla Team, had inspired the students of private North South University to kill blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in 2013.

The seven accused, including Rahmani, was in the court but they pleaded not guilty and sought “fair justice”. But the judge went ahead and set April 21 for beginning the depositions of witnesses, which means a formal trial process has begun through the indictment.

If convicted, the accused could face death sentence as maximum punishment.

Rezwanul Azad Rana, who is said to be an activist of Jamaate-Islami’s student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, is thought to be the planner. But Rana remains at large.

The indictment comes three weeks after unidentified attackers hacked Avijit Roy, a BangladeshiUS blogger and writer, on Dhaka University campus for his writing against Islamic radicalism.

Investigators have pointed fingers at Islamist radical groups as he received death threats from them. Only one arrest has been made since his killing.