DHAKA: Police have arrested four members of a banned militant group, including a regional commander, suspected in the killing last month of a university professor in northwestern Bangladesh, officials said Tuesday.
Prof. Rezaul Karim Siddique was hacked to death on April 23 on his way to work at a state-run university in the city of Rajshahi. The attackers used sharp weapons and quickly fled the scene.
Police tracked down the regional commander of the group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh on Sunday night in the northern district of Bogra.
The suspect, Maskawath Hasan Sakib, nicknamed Abdullah, confessed involvement in the attack before a magistrate, leading to the arrests of the three other suspects on Monday night, according to Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mohammed Shamsuddin.
“Of the arrested four, three directly took part in the killing while the fourth man was waiting with a motorbike they used,” Shamsuddin said.
He would not disclose the identities of the three others detained “for the sake of the investigation,” but said the motorbike had been recovered.
Abdullah told police during his interrogation that the attackers did not know why Siddique was targeted, and that they had carried out the killing on orders from their superiors, Shamsuddin said.
Family members described Siddique as a quiet man who led a cultural group and edited a literary magazine. His killing was similar to other attacks over the last two years by suspected militants that targeted atheist bloggers, intellectuals and rights activists in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
Prof. Rezaul Karim Siddique was hacked to death on April 23 on his way to work at a state-run university in the city of Rajshahi. The attackers used sharp weapons and quickly fled the scene.
Police tracked down the regional commander of the group Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh on Sunday night in the northern district of Bogra.
The suspect, Maskawath Hasan Sakib, nicknamed Abdullah, confessed involvement in the attack before a magistrate, leading to the arrests of the three other suspects on Monday night, according to Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mohammed Shamsuddin.
“Of the arrested four, three directly took part in the killing while the fourth man was waiting with a motorbike they used,” Shamsuddin said.
He would not disclose the identities of the three others detained “for the sake of the investigation,” but said the motorbike had been recovered.
Abdullah told police during his interrogation that the attackers did not know why Siddique was targeted, and that they had carried out the killing on orders from their superiors, Shamsuddin said.
Family members described Siddique as a quiet man who led a cultural group and edited a literary magazine. His killing was similar to other attacks over the last two years by suspected militants that targeted atheist bloggers, intellectuals and rights activists in Muslim-majority Bangladesh.
