They support such killings

Saad-al-Nahin and Masud Rana, arrested in connection with the murder of blogger Niladri Chattopadhyay Niloy, have admitted that they support killings of bloggers "for the sake of religion", detectives said.

"On remand, they said they support such kind [blogger-killing] of activities," Deputy Commissioner (Media) Muntasirul Islam of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) told The Daily Star yesterday.

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The arrestees believe that "actions" should be taken against those who demean religion and make derogatory remarks about the Prophet (pbuh), he said.

Muntasirul, however, said investigators were yet to ascertain the arrestees' connection with Niloy's murder.

Echoing his view, DMP spokesperson Monirul Islam said both Nahin and Rana had long been members of outlawed militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT). The DMP joint commissioner (Detective Branch) said this to a private TV channel yesterday.

DB officials said they had gleaned "vital information" from the two on the recent killings of secular online writers, including US-based Bangladeshi Avijit Roy.

The duo were arrested from the capital's Uttara and Mirpur on Thursday and placed on eight-day remand each by a Dhaka court on Friday.

Though they both were arrested in the Niloy murder case, they were previously unknown to each other, according to DB Inspector Mahbubur Rahman, also the investigating officer of the case.

Niloy, who used to write against religious fanaticism and extremism, was hacked to death by, according to police, suspected ABT operatives at his Goran residence in the capital on August 7.

Nephew of State Minister for Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque Chunnu, Nahin was one of the two ABT operatives who were directly involved in the machete attack on blogger Asif Mohiuddin in January 2013, according to police. He along with three others was arrested in April that year but was later freed on bail.

In another development, Niloy's wife Asha Moni met the investigators at the DB office in the capital yesterday.

Asha, who was at the house when Niloy was killed there, narrated the whole incident to them, said DB Inspector Mahbubur Rahman.

Although investigators earlier said they would bring the arrestees before her for an identity parade, the inspector said they did not do so for the sake of investigation.

"The arrestees are on remand now. It [the parade] would hamper the remand process," he said, adding that they would arrange it, if required, after the remand.

3 TAHRIR MEN HELD

Meanwhile, three suspected members of banned militant outfit Hizb-ut-Tahrir were arrested in the capital's Pallabi Section 6 area while distributing leaflets on Friday.

Officer-in-Charge Dadon Bhuiyan of Pallabi Police Station said they had detained  Abdullah Al Mamun, 33, of Sherpur; Yusuf Nurani, 28, of Chandpur; and AKM Mostafizur Rahman Muhim, 23, of Faridpur after the Jum'ah prayers.

Some leaflets of the organisation were recovered from them, the OC added.