US State Department Searching for Blogger Avijit Roy's Killer

Abhijit Roy and his wife Rafida Ahmed Bonya file photo at Ekushey Book Fair

5.5 million Reward for Information Leading to Blogger Death

The US Department of State Department (another name US State Department) has announced a 5.5 million reward for information leading to the capture of Syed Ziaul Haque and Akram Hossain, also known as  ‘Major Zia’, who are suspected of plotting to assassinate Bangladeshi blogger and writer Abhijit Roy in 2015.

Al-Qaeda-linked terrorists killed US citizen Abhijit Roy and wounded his wife, Rafida Ahmed Bonya, as they were leaving a book fair in Dhaka on February 28, 2015, according to a poster.

It said six people had been convicted and sentenced by a Bangladeshi court for their role in the attack. The trial was completed in the absence of two of the accused, Syed Ziaul Haque (Major Zia) and Akram Hossain, and they are still at large.

"If you have any information about Haq, Hossain or anyone else involved in the attack, send us your information via Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp using the number below. In that case, you too can get the prize”, said the poster.

It has a phone number which is: + 1-202-702-7843 and also has a Twitter handle called FRFJ_USA.

According to the poster, Rewards for Justice has announced a reward of up to 5 million for information on terrorist attacks on US citizens in Bangladesh.

In the lower left corner of the poster are the names and symbols of the US State Department, the names of the Diplomatic Security Service and Rewards for Justice.

Rewards for Justice is a US State Department program aimed at rewarding terrorists for their role in counterterrorism.

Its purpose is to bring international terrorists to justice and to prevent international terrorist activity against any person or property in the United States.

Under this program, the United States Secretary of State may reward someone for information that results in:

1) anyone involved in or attempting to carry out international terrorist activities, or planning or aiding them, may be arrested or convicted;

2) Any such incident can be prevented;

3) An important terrorist leader can be identified or his position can be identified; Or

4) Financing for terrorism can be disrupted.

So far, RFI has rewarded more than 100 people with a total of more than 150 million.

Source: BBC Bangla