DHAKA: A leader of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahedeen Bangladesh group has been executed for killing two judges in 2005.
The execution of Asadul Islam Arif took place on Sunday night in Khulna district jail in southwestern Bangladesh, police said. Arif’s body was handed over to his family after the execution, jail superintendent Kamrul Islam said.
Earlier on Sunday, Arif’s family members, including his wife, two daughters and six sisters met him inside the jail where he was held since 2008.
Six top leaders of the JMB, including its founder Shaikh Abdur Rahman, were executed in 2007 for the murders of the judges, but Arif continued to be incarcerated.
Arif, who was absconding and was later arrested in 2007, filed a petition with the Supreme Court earlier this year, seeking a review of his conviction.
On August 28, the Supreme Court made a final decision on his execution.
The police on Sunday also arrested a suspected member of the banned Ansarullah Bangla Team for killing an atheist blogger in April.
Rashidun Nabi Bhuiyan was picked up from Sayedabad bus terminal area in Dhaka, police said on Monday.
He was involved in the hacking to death of blogger Nazim Uddin Samad in April near Jagannath University, Dhaka police’s counter-terrorism unit chief Monirul Islam said.
{{/usCountry}}He was involved in the hacking to death of blogger Nazim Uddin Samad in April near Jagannath University, Dhaka police’s counter-terrorism unit chief Monirul Islam said.
{{/usCountry}}“He was the leader of the operation team. They carried sharp weapons and hacked Nazim dead,” said Islam.
Nabi joined the Ansarullah Bangla Team last year and is an active member of the group, police said. Samad, a law student of Jagannath University, was killed on April 6 for his views against radicalism.