3 held in B’deshi bloggers murder case

Bangladeshi authorities say they have arrested three suspected Islamic militants suspected in the killings of two prominent secular bloggers, including a Bangladesh-born U.S. citizen.

The suspects belong to the extremist Ansarullah Bangla Team, spokesman for the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) force Maksudul Alam said on Tuesday.

Mr Rahman, an IT expert, is alleged to have links with a banned militant group, Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT).

The suspects were arrested Monday night in raids in Dhaka.

At least 14 other members belonging to several groups have been arrested this year in connection with the violent deaths of bloggers in the South Asian country.

A Foreign Office spokeswoman said: “We are aware of reports that a British national has been arrested in Bangladesh and are seeking clarification from the authorities”.

Secular blogger Ananta Das was killed in similar circumstances in north-eastern Bangladesh in May. His wife, also a blogger, was injured in the attack, which took place as the couple walked on the campus of Dhaka University.

Machete-wielding masked men in May hacked to death 33-year-old Das.

Chakrabarti, who used the pen-name Niloy Neel, had posted on Facebook months before his death that he had been followed by two young men, but police refused to register the complaint and instead told him to leave the country. Non-Muslim writers are forced to use pseudonyms and many have fled overseas.

The Ansar al-Islam radical group, an affiliate of al-Qaeda active in the Indian subcontinent, later claimed responsibility for the murder.

“If there is sound evidence that these individuals, including a Briton, are responsible for the brutal, mindless murders of Avijit [Roy] and Ananta [Bijoy Das] then they must face trial and justice without delay”.