7 suspects in Bangladesh blogger murder case identified

Dhaka 

Bangladesh police said today seven people belonging to a home-grown Islamist militant group took part in the brutal murder of a Bangladeshi-born U.S. atheist blogger in Dhaka in February. 

All seven followed Avijit Roy on the night of February 26 and then brutally hacked him to death in a busy road on the Dhaka University campus when Roy and his wife were returning from a book fair. 

"In primary investigation police detectives have identified seven of those who took part in the killing," Dhaka police spokesman Muntasirul Islam told AFP, adding none of them have been arrested. 

"What our investigation has found is that all seven are members of the banned Islamist militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT)," he said, referring to the little known group whose activists were charged with the murder of another atheist blogger. 

The government banned ABT in May this year for its alleged involvement in the murders of atheist bloggers. Police earlier said the group is manned by top university graduates and members number less than 100. 

Islam said the alleged killers are "mostly private university students and one of them is a young doctor." 

"We are hoping to arrest the big fishes who operate behind the scene once we manage to catch the seven people," he said.