US hopes for breakthrough in probe

The United States is hoping to see a "breakthrough" in the ongoing investigation into the murder case of Bangladeshi-American blogger Avijit Roy and the "real culprits" will hopefully be netted, US Ambassador in Dhaka, Marcia Bernicat, told the reporters yesterday after attending a function in the capital's Mirpur area.

There has not been much headway into the killing over the last one year as the suspects, who are in jail, did not give any confessional statement.

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Avijit, son of a noted physicist, Ajoy Roy, and the founder of Mukto-Mona blog, was hacked to death, and his wife Rafida Afrin Banya was injured as unidentified killers attacked them with meat cleavers near TSC on the Dhaka University campus on February 26, 2015.

The expatriate couple returned home a few days before the killing as Avijit's two books were published on the occasion of the Ekushey book fair. Responding to a question, the US diplomat said they are "very satisfied" with the cooperation from the police in Bangladesh as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) became part of it. "It's (a) very tough case and an issue…our efforts are to aid the local police," she said adding that they are very pleased to play a role in the overall investigation.

Earlier on Monday, investigators, assigned for handling the case hoped that the FBI would soon send reports of the DNA tests."We came to know that the FBI has already completed the tests of 11 samples, which were given following a court permission last year," Additional Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Md Monirul Islam, told a news briefing at the DMP media centre on Monday.

The four-member FBI team came to Bangladesh on March 3 last year to help in the investigation.