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Police in Bangladesh announced yesterday that they have made additional arrests in the killings of secular bloggers by suspected Islamist radicals that have raised concerns about the government's ability to protect freedom of speech.
The Criminal Investigation Department had arrested two brothers in connection with the killing in May of blogger Ananta Bijoy Das in northeastern Bangladesh, said Special Superintendent Mirza Abdullahel Baqui.
Their role in the killing was not immediately clear. They were described as students, and Baqui said they were arrested on specific information. A photographer of a local daily has been the only suspect so far in that killing.
Das was one of four bloggers who were brutally killed this year.
Dhaka Metropolitan police official Mahbub Alam said two men - Kausar Hossain Khan, 29, and Kamal Hossain Sardar, 29, - were arrested late on Thursday in the killing of Niladri Chottopadhay Niloy, who was hacked to death on August 7 in Dhaka.
The suspects are believed to be members of the Ansarullah Bangla Team, an outlawed Islamist group that has been blamed for attacks on atheist bloggers and writers.
Two other people, Saad-al-Nahin and Masud Rana, were arrested two weeks ago for their suspected involvement in Niloy's death. Alam said the latest arrests were the result of the interrogations of the two other men.
Police did not provide more details about Khan and Sardar, but said they had been free on bail after being accused of attempted murder in an attack on another blogger.
Niloy was known as an atheist blogger, who had sought police protection after receiving threats.


Two brothers detained over killing of secular blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh

Suspected Muslim militants Kausar Hossain Khan, 29, second from right, and Kamal Hossain Sardar, 29, second from left. Photo: AP

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