EMRUL HASAN BAPPI

A decade after the murders of bloggers Oyasiqur Rahman Babu, Nazimuddin Samad and Niladri Chattopadhyay Niloy, the trials remain stalled as prosecution witnesses continue to skip court hearings, preventing proceedings from moving forward.

Case documents say members of the banned militant outfit Ansar al Islam, also known as Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), carried out the killings in Dhaka between March 30, 2015, and April 6, 2016.

Oyasiqur, known for his secular views and writings against fundamentalism, was hacked to death in broad daylight in the Tejgaon Industrial Area on March 30, 2015.

Later that year, on August 7, Niloy was killed inside his rented flat in the Goran area of Khilgaon.

On April 6, 2016, Jagannath University law student Nazimuddin, who had been critical of extremism in his Facebook posts, was hacked and shot dead in the Sutrapur area of Old Dhaka.

According to the prosecution, the court has been summoning witnesses month after month to record testimonies, but many have failed to appear, causing prolonged delays and leaving the cases unresolved.

OYASIQUR CASE

On the day of the attack, Monir Hossain Masud, Oyasiqur’s cousin and brother-in-law, filed a murder case with Tejgaon Industrial Police Station against four named individuals and several unnamed suspects.

On September 2, 2015, Shah Md Mashiur Rahman, an inspector of the Detective Branch of police, submitted a charge sheet accusing five ABT members -- Zikrullah, Ariful Islam, Saiful Islam, Akram Hossain and Junaid Ahmed.

On July 20, 2016, the

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