Six to die for killing LGBT activist Xulhaz, friend Tonoy

A Dhaka court has sentenced six people to death for the murders of Bangladesh LGBT rights activist Xulhaz Mannan and his friend Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy.

Judge Mojibur Rahman of the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal also acquitted two others in the verdict delivered on Tuesday.

Xulhaz Mannan was hacked to death inside his flat at Kalabagan along with Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy in 2016, reports bdnews24.com. 

The attack was one of a series of militant-linked assassinations of secular activists and religious minorities, and claimed by the Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS).

Investigations found Islamist militants responsible for the killings of Xulhaz and Tonoy.

Inspector Muhammad Monirul Islam of the police Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit pressed charges against eight people in 2019.

The suspects named in the case were sacked army officer Syed Mohammad Ziaul Haque, Akram Hossain, Sabbirul Hoque Chowdhury, Moulana Zunaid Ahmed, Mozammel Hossain alias Saimon, Arafat Rahman, Sheikh Abdullah, and Asadullah.

Among them, Zia, Akram, Sabbirul and Junaid are currently on the run.

Zia, Mozammel, Arafat and Akram were also accused in the case filed over the murder of writer and blogger Avijit Roy.

The investigators reported that all of them are members of the banned militant outfit Ansar al-Islam.

Among them, Zia, Akram, Mozammel and Sheikh Abdullah were also condemned to death for the murder of publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan in 2015.