Death row convict in Humayun Azad murder case arrested

The Anti-Terrorism Unit of Bangladesh Police has arrested a man sentenced to death for the murder of Humayun Azad, the writer and professor in the Department of Bangla at Dhaka University.

In a statement on Tuesday, the ATU said it had arrested JMB leader Noor Mohammad aka Sabu aka Shameem, who was directly involved in the attack on Azad at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair in 2004.

Sabu was one of four militants sentenced to death in the case. He had been absconding from the start, reports bdnews24.com.

He attacked Azad with a machete, hacking at his shoulders and neck, and injuring him before fleeing the scene, the ATU said.

Additional details will be available at a press conference later on.

Another death row convict in the case – Salehin aka Salauddin aka Sajeeb aka Touhid – is still absconding.

Death row convicts JMB Shura member Mizanur Rahman Minhaz aka Shafiq aka Shaon and Anowarul Alam aka Bhagne Shaheed are in prison.

Azad, a prolific writer and professor of Bangla literature at Dhaka University who was well-known for his support of freethinking, came under attack on the campus after leaving the Bangla Academy during the Amar Ekushey Book Fair on Feb 27, 2004.

A day after the attack, Azad’s brother Manjur Kabir filed a case with the Ramna Police Station.

Azad was found dead at his apartment in Munich, Germany on Aug 12, 2004. Kabir had initially filed an attempt to murder case, but it was subsequently turned into a murder case after further investigation.

The case documents reveal that Azad’s sudden demise in Munich was due to stress, anxiety and underlying injuries from the attack.

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee, a war crimes convict who condemned Azad in his lectures for his works against fundamentalism, was among the five suspects named in the case. His name was later dropped.

On Apr 13, 2022, a Dhaka court sentenced four JMB militants to death for the murder of Azad.