Murder-accused ‘innocent’
DHAKA: The Family of a Bangladeshi-origin British citizen arrested over the murders of two atheist bloggers insisted yesterday he was innocent, adding that he suffers from a mental illness.
Bangladesh’s elite security force arrested Touhidur Rahman and two others on Tuesday, accusing them of being members of an Islamic group banned in may over a series of gruesome killings of bloggers.
Yesterday a court in Dhaka remanded all three in custody for seven days to allow police more time to question them over the machete murders of bloggers Avijit Roy and Anata Bijoy Das.
“Only Rahman sought bail through his lawyer but his plea was rejected,” prosecutor Abdullah Abu said.
Bangladesh’s Rapid action Battalion has accused the 58-year-old of being the “main planner” of the attacks and a “Financier” of the banned Ansarullah Bangla Team Which is led by a jailed cleric.
But mr Rahman’s sister Nasera Begum said her brother has not committed any crimes since returning 2013 to Banglasdesh from the UK, where he lived and worked for more than 20 years.
“like other members of our family, he is a devout Muslim. He did not commit any crimes as far as I know. He is also very sick. He sufferers from biprolar,” Ms Begum said.
“He was treated in England and is now being treated by a mental health specialist in Dhaka,” she said. “And the last one or two years he has been too ill to do any job.”
She also said her unmarried brother was initially picked up by detectives several months agp.
Four secular bloggers have been hacked to death in Muslim-majority Bangladesh since the start of the year, sparking an international outcry and protests by mainly secular activists in the capital.
Roy, a US citizen born in Bangladesh was murdered in Febuary by a gang wielding nachetes in Dhaka. Das,33,was killed in similar fashion in Sylhet in may.AFP