Father of slain U.S. blogger says no progress in Bangladesh probe
By Serajul Quadir DHAKA (Reuters) - The father of a U.S. blogger who was hacked to death by machete-wielding attackers in Bangladesh complained on Thursday about the lack of a breakthrough in the month since the killing. Bangladeshi-born Avijit Roy was murdered on Feb. 26 outside a book fair in the capital Dhaka. His father Ajoy Roy, who met police earlier this week, told reporters on Thursday that "apparently no progress has been achieved". There has been a spate of assaults on secular bloggers in the Muslim-majority nation over the past few years. Media group Reporters Without Borders rated Bangladesh 146th among 180 countries in a ranking of press freedom last year. Police have come under intense pressure over the case, with the dead man's wife accusing officers of standing by and failing to stop the attack. The wife, Rafida Bonya Ahmed, suffered head injuries and lost a finger. She later returned to the United States for treatment, from where she has blamed the killing on "religious fanatics". The dead man's father said he had handed police photographs taken at a meeting attended by his son earlier on the day of the killing. Krishna Pada Roy, a deputy police commissioner, told Reuters that an academic who was present at that meeting had been questioned by police for several hours on Wednesday. The man had been told not to try to leave the country, and to report for further questioning if required. The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is helping Bangladeshi authorities. A suspect accused of ties to militant group Hizbut Tahrir, Farabi Shafiur Rahman, has been arrested. Police are also seeking Redwanul Azad Rana, a member of an Islamist militant group called the Ansarullah Bangla Team. Mohammad Habibur Rahman, secretary of the Bangladesh Police Association and Superintendent of Police of Dhaka, said the police had been unfairly criticized over the incident. "There are plenty of examples where our police force come forward to save people, risking their own lives," he told Reuters. (Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
