4 to die for killing blogger Ananta Bijoy

A Sylhet court has sentenced four people to death in the murder case of science writer, Ganajagaran Mancha organizer and blogger Ananta Bijoy Das.

The court also acquitted Shafiur Rahman Farabi as allegations brought against him was not proven.

The verdict was announced by Sylhet Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal's judge Nurul Amin Biplob on Wednesday.

The condemned convicts are Abul Khaer Rashid Ahmed, Abul Hossain alias Abul Hussain, Harunur Rashid and Faisal Ahmed.

Farabi and Abul Khaer, who are currently in arrest, were brought before the court around 12:30 p.m., while the remainder are still on the run.

Ananta was brutally murdered on his way to work with his sister on May 12 in 2015, near his Subidbazar home in Sylhet.

Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), a banned militant group, claimed responsibility for the murder.

The next day, Ananta's brother Ratneswar Das filed a murder complaint with the Sylhet Airport Police Station, accusing certain unnamed individuals, and the inquiry was eventually handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

The charge sheet was filed by Arman Ali, a CID inspector and the case's investigation officer, on October 18 in 2016, however the court rejected it and ordered CID to reinvestigate the case and prepare a supplementary charge sheet, which was filed in May of 2017.

Mannan Yahya, the lone accused who confessed to the murder in front of the court, died on November 2 in 2017, after falling unwell at Dhaka Central Jail.