In an unprecedented development, a member of banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team has apologized to the nation for his involvement in the murder of Gonojagoron Moncho activist and secularist Nazimuddin Samad six months ago.
Rashidun Nabi Bhuiyan alias Rayhan, 26, arrested by detectives from the Sayedabad bus stand area on Sunday night, was produced before the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Maruf Hossain yesterday afternoon with a 10-day remand prayer. The judge granted the police three days to interrogate him. No lawyer represented Nabi during the remand hearing.
At one point, when the judge asked him about the murder, Nabi told the court: “I admit that we killed him [Nazim]. Please forgive us. We regret it and apologize to the nation. Please pardon me. We were misguided…” Nabi was arrested by a team of the Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit and the Detective Branch of police.
Jagannath University master’s student Nazimuddin was hacked to death at Paramour intersection in Old Dhaka’s Sutrapur area on April 6. In January, he came to Dhaka, got admitted to the university in February, and started living in Gendaria. Nazimuddin was the information and research secretary of Sylhet district unit of Bangabandhu Jatiya Jumbo Parishad. He used to write against religious extremism and radicalism on Facebook.
DB police in August claimed that a sleeper cell of the outfit from Sylhet targeted 28-year-old Nazimuddin for his writings on Facebook, followed him, and carried out the killing. The detectives also found that Ansarullah leader Saiful Islam masterminded the attack.
DMP Additional Commissioner and CTTC chief Monirul Islam yesterday said that the militants linked to Ansarullah (now Ansar Al Islam) had planned to kill Nazimuddin three months back. “A few days before the attack, the militants had rented a house near Jagannath University. They followed Nazimuddin’s movement and finally conducted the attack on April 6,” Monirul said at a press briefing.
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“Since Nazimuddin used to live in a messy house at Sutrapur of Old Dhaka, the militants thought that it would not be possible to kill him there. So, five militants led by Nabi attacked and killed him on the street.” Monirul claimed that Nabi had also confessed his involvement in killing LGBT rights activists XUL has Mannan and Mahbub Tony and the attempted murder of publisher Ahmed Rashid Tutul.
Hailing from Comilla, Nabi joined Ansarullah Bangla Team last year and inspired many youths to join the group. Since 2013, military members have killed 11 secularists, war crimes trial campaigners, and teachers.
Nabi has disclosed some names of the outfit’s members. “We are verifying the information and will launch drives to arrest his associates,” Monirul said.
