FBI’s help to be sought in murder probe

Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali on Sunday said it has decided to take help of the US’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the probe into writer-blogger Avijit Roy’s murder following Washington’s offer.

The minister conveyed the decision to a group of Dhaka-based diplomats including those of the US, while briefing them on the ongoing political situation Sunday, bdnews24.com reported.

Ali said the government had decided to “positively respond” to the US offer to engage the FBI in unearthing the motive and real culprits behind the murder.

Unidentified assailants hacked the 42-year Bangladeshi-American to death and seriously injured his blogger wife Rafida Ahmed Banna on Dhaka University campus on Thursday night.

He has been facing threats from Islamist radicals for his secular blogging.

The US has condemned the killing in “strongest terms” and offered support in the investigations.