A Dhaka court on Sunday framed charges against eight people including a sacked Major Zia ul Haque for the murder of publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan in 2015. The deposition in the sensational murder case will start from November 18. Six of the accused are in jail while two including Major Zia are absconding.

Police had filed charge sheet In November last year against eight members of the banned militant outfit Ansar Al Islam, also known as Ansarullah Bangla Team, in connection with the murder of publisher Dipan.

Dipan was hacked to death in his office in the Shahbagh area of Dhaka on 31 October, 2015. He had published several books of blogger Avijit Roy who was killed earlier in Dhaka in February 2015. Roy’s wife was also seriously injured in the attack but survived.

Avijit Roy was a US based Bangladeshi atheist, secular blogger who wrote against religious extremism, superstition and orthodoxy.

Dipan’s murder evoked strong outrage inside Bangladesh and outside including the UN and the US Embassy in Dhaka.

Two more publishers associated with Avijit Roy were also attacked in Dhaka on the same day but they survived the attack. A series of attacks and murder of bloggers in Bangladesh who wrote against religious extremism took place between 2013-16.