Three detained for Bangladesh bloggers' murders

Dhaka, Sep 11  Bangladesh police have arrested three members of a banned Islamist militant group suspected to be involved with the murders of secular bloggers Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Das, officials said on Friday.

Militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team’s chief Abul Bashar and two of its media wing members -- Julhas Biswas, Jafran Al Hasan -- were arrested in Dhaka on Thursday evening, bdnews24 reported.

Avijit Roy, who wrote against religious extremism, was hacked to death near Dhaka University on February 26.

On May 12, blogger Ananta Bijoy Das was killed in the same manner in Sylhet.

Law enforcers suspected Ansarullah Bangla Team’s involvement in the murders from the start.

Police claimed a five-man hit squad of the banned militant outfit carried out the murders.

Bangladeshi-origin British citizen Touhidur Rahman, Aminul Mallik, Ariful Islam, Jakirul Prokash and Sadek Ali Mithu, all detained in jail, are suspected to have been on the team.

Rahman was allegedly the mastermind behind the operations, police added.