Instigator in liberal publisher’s murder arrested in Dhaka

Moinul Islam Shamim is a leading member of a banned Islamic group, Ansarullah Bangla Team. His arrest took place overnight in a neighbourhood in the capital. He had ordered the stabbing of Faisal Arefin Dipan, who published progressive ideas. A new threatening letter promises death to five figures "guilty" of atheism and apostasy.

Dhaka (AsiaNews) – After the Holey Artisan Bakery Cafe massacre by Islamists on 1 July, Bangladesh continues to be fertile ground for extremism.

Police in Dhaka arrested overnight Moinul Islam Shamim, considered the instigator and organiser of the murder of liberal publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan who was killed for expressing progressive ideas and publishing the texts of Avijit Roy, a blogger also killed for his critical positions on radical Islam.

Dipan, owner of Jagriti Prokashani, was stabbed to death on 31 October 2015 at two o'clock in the afternoon (local time) in his office, near the Aziz Cooperative Market Shabagh, in Dhaka.

The man behind his murder is a leading member of Ansarullah Bangla Team, a banned Islamic group, already known for wishing a proper death on secular intellectuals. There was a reward of 200,000 Bangladeshi takas (US$ 2,500) for his arrest.

Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said that police discovered the fugitive in the neighborhood of Cherag Ali Market in Tongi, Gazipur, a suburb of the capital. Shamin was taken to jail where he will be heard by investigators.

At the same time, five leading individuals in Jessore, a city in the southwest of the country, have received new threats for being "atheists and apostates". Another illegal Islamic group, Hizb ut-Tahrir, sent the threatening letter to the office of the district commissioner.

The letter containing death threats targets five politicians, activists and trade unions, who are described as atheists and gentiles.

“Killing atheists and apostates is a way to heaven for Muslims,” the letter said. “Your death sentence is final. Execution will be carried out any time and don’t dare to harass militant brothers.”

• bangladesh
• jessore
• arrest
• murder
• liberal editor
• moinul islam shamim
• faisal arefin dipal
• dhaka massacre
• islamic extremism
• death threats