Staff Reporter:
Shafiur Rahman Farabi, sentenced to life imprisonment in the murder case of writer-blogger Avijit Roy, walked out of Kashimpur High Security Central Jail on Friday after securing bail.
Senior Jail Superintendent Abdullah Al Mamun said Farabi was released around 10:15 am following the receipt and verification of bail documents from the High Court.
“We received the bail-related papers last night and released him this morning,” he told reporters.
The High Court granted Farabi bail on 30 July after an appeal was filed on his behalf.
Avijit Roy, a US-based Bangladeshi writer-blogger, was hacked to death near Dhaka University’s TSC on 26 February 2015, while returning from the Ekushey Book Fair with his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya. Bonya sustained serious injuries while trying to protect her husband.
Avijit’s father, Professor Ajoy Roy, lodged a case with Shahbagh Police Station the next day against unidentified assailants.
On 16 February 2021, a Dhaka tribunal sentenced five members of banned militant group Ansar al Islam to death and handed Farabi a life sentence.
Those awarded the death penalty are Sayed Mohammad Ziaul Haque alias (sacked) Major Zia, Akram Hossain, Abu Siddiq Sohel, Mozammel Hossain Saimon and Arafat Rahman Siam. Of them, Major Zia and Akram are still absconding.
