Sylhet court has sentenced four people to death for killing science writer and blogger Ananta Vijay Das; Controversial blogger Shafiur Rahman Farabi has been released.
The verdict was announced by Judge Nurul Amin Biplob of the Sylhet Anti-Terrorism Tribunal on Wednesday .
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The deceased have been identified as Abul Hossain, 25, of Kanaighat upazila in Sylhet, Faisal Ahmed, 26, of Talpari in Khalpar, Mamunur Rashid, 25, of Birendranagar (Bagli) in Tahirpur, Sunamganj and Abul Khair Rashid Ahmed, 25, of Faljur village in Kanaighat.
Abul Khair Rashid Ahmed and Farabi were present when the verdict was announced, Special Tribunal for the Tribunal (PP) Muminur Rahman Titu told reporters. The other three convicts on death row are fugitives.
The judge set the date for the verdict on Wednesday after presenting the arguments of the case on March 14.
Blogger Ananta Vijay Das was killed in front of his house on May 12, 2015 in Noorani residential area of Subidbazar in Sylhet city. In addition to writing about eternal science, the banker also edited a science magazine called ‘Yukti’. He was also the organizer of the local Ganajagaran Mancha.
The day after the murder, on May 13, 2015, his elder brother Ratneshwar Das filed a murder case with the Sylhet Airport Police Station accusing four unidentified persons.
It is alleged in the lawsuit that Anant was killed by a group of fanatics for writing about science.
Initially the case was in the hands of the police but later it was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). CID inspector Arman Ali took up the case. The investigation officer filed a chargesheet in the court on May 9, 2016, accusing six people in the Ananta Vijay murder case, subject to investigation.
The accused were all residents of Sylhet. Shafiur Rahman Farabi, 30, was acquitted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder case of science writer and blogger Abhijit Roy.
Among the accused, Mannan Yaya alias Mannan Rahi alias AB Mannan Yaya alias Ibn Moin (24) of East Faljur village in Kanaighat pleaded guilty in the court and confessed to the murder under Section 164. However, on November 2, 2016, Mannan Rahi suddenly fell ill in prison and died.
Among the five surviving accused were Abul Khair Rashid Ahmed and Farabi.
Abul Hossain, Faisal Ahmed and Mamunur Rashid are absconding.
Out of 29 witnesses in this widely discussed case, the court has taken 24 witnesses.
