Dhaka: A court in Bangladesh sentenced 5 people to death and 1 to lifetime jail for killing US blogger six years ago.
Avijit Roy, based in the US and of Bangladeshi origin, was attacked to death with machetes as he left a book fair in 2015 while returning home with his wife. His wife and a fellow blogger suffered head injuries.
Roy had angered some people with his writings on religion.
The assault was carried out by a banned group, Ansar al-Islam which is believed to be linked with al-Qaeda, according to the court.
The former major Syed Zial Haque, who was leading the attackers was sentenced to the death along with 4 others and 1 was given life in jail.
The public prosecutor Golam Sarwar Khan said that the charges against them were proved without any doubt and the court gave the highest punishment.
Police believe the group were behind many murders of bloggers and secular activists. Such deadly attacks took place in Bangladesh in between 2013 and 2016 and were blamed on groups inspired by al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
