Bangladesh arrests suspect in killing of U.S. blogger

A file photo of slain blogger Avijit Roy and his wife Rafida Ahmed Banna. Photo: Special Arrangement

Bangladesh security officials said they have arrested a leading suspect in the hacking death of an American blogger, who wrote against religious extremism.

The elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion force said the suspect, Farabi Shafiur Rahman, was arrested on Monday, four days after at least two attackers killed Avijit Roy with meat cleavers in Dhaka.

It said Rahman had threatened to kill Roy in posts on Facebook. Rahman, who has strongly denounced atheism, was arrested previously for threatening an imam, who performed funeral prayers for an atheist blogger, who was killed in 2013.

Roy, a Bangladesh-born U.S. citizen, was a prominent voice against religious intolerance. His wife was also injured in the attack.