Dhaka, June 28 (IANS): A prime suspect in the murder of Bangladeshi writer Shahzahan Bachchu was killed in an alleged shootout between police and criminals here on Thursday.
Abdur Rahman, leader of the terror group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), was arrested on Sunday in connection with the murder of Bachchu.
Rahman was killed while he was accompanying the security forces in a raid to arrest one of his accomplices, said police officer Zayedul Alam, according to bdnews24.com.
"Today we went to Shirajdikhan with him to arrest his accomplice. Sensing the presence of police, criminals opened fire, forcing police to retaliate. Rahman was caught in the line of fire and died on the spot," Alam added.
He said Rahman had confessed to his role in Bachchu's murder and also said that he was heading the JMB military operations in the country's capital.
Bachchu, a member of the Communist Party of Bangladesh and owner of Bishaka Prakashani publishing house, was killed on June 11 by four assailants on two motorcycles.
Around 70 people, including bloggers, intellectuals, foreigners and members of religious minorities in Bangladesh, have been killed in a series of attacks between 2013 and 2016.
Although Bangladesh blames indigenous groups such as the JMB and the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami for these attacks, some of these incidents had also been claimed by the Islamic State and the Al Qaeda branch in the Indian subcontinent.
The IS had claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a Dhaka restaurant that left 22 people dead, mostly foreigners, in July 2016.
