When you consider four atheist bloggers have been hacked to death like meat by Islamists in Bangladesh in the past six months, and that practically nothing has been done about it, you can consider this a sort of minute progress.
Three people, including a British national, have been arrested by Police in Bangladesh on suspicion of having masterminded at least two of the murders.
Touhidur Rahman, 58 year old British citizen of Bangladeshi origin, is believed to have masterminded the attacks on Avijit Roy and Ananta Das.
Two other Bangladeshi nationals were arrested, Sadeq Ali Mithu and Aminul Mollik. All three are believed to be members of the Islamist group “Ansarullah Bangla Team,” more commonly referred to as Ansar Bangla.
Speaking to the AFP, Major Maksudul Alam of The Rapid Action Battalion said: “We’ve arrested them in the capital today. We can confirm that Rahman is a British citizen of Bangladeshi origin. He is the main planner of the attacks on Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Das.”
Blogger Avijit Roy, who courted controversy by championing atheism and also tackling issues such as gay rights, was killed in Dhaka in February. He was ambushed and hacked to death with machetes. His wife, who was with him, survived the attack.
Ananta Bijoy Das was killed by masked men with machetes in Sylhet in May.