Bangladesh arrests
Bangladeshi activists hold the photos of activists, writers and bloggers (L-R) Humayun Azad, Avijit Roy, Faisal Arefin Dipan, Nazimuddin Samad who were murdered by unidentified assassins STR/AFP/Getty Images

Bangladeshi police shot dead a militant, who was the main suspect in the 2015 murder of the Bangladeshi-American blogger Avijit Roy, on Sunday (19 June). He was one of the six suspects wanted by police for the killing of Roy.

The militant Sharif also known as Hadi, was one of the members of the banned Ansarullah Bangla group and was killed in the Khilgaon district of Dhaka. The police had offered a reward of $6,500 (£4,454) for his capture.

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Masudur Rahman, Dhaka deputy police commissioner, confirmed he was in fact killed by police in a shootout, Al Jazeera reported.

He said that Sharif and two other men were passing through Khilgaon area when they launched an attack on the police, who fired back injuring Sharif. The militant later succumbed to his wounds at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He added that the other two men with Sharif managed to escape.

Other reports quoted police officer Abdul Baten as saying Sharif was also involved in the killing of four other liberal bloggers, a publisher and two gay rights activists in April.

Another police commissioner, Mashrukur Rahman Khaled, who was involved in investigating Sharif's case, said, "He also used to coordinate the attack and usually would be somewhere near the spot of the killings."

To tackle the wave of violence that has gripped Bangladesh, the police launched a crackdown on Islamist militants across the country in recent weeks and arrested around 11,000 people.

However, human rights groups and opposition parties said that hundreds of innocent people have been arrested as a part of the clampdown.

Mizanur Rahman, chairman of the National Human Right Commission (NHRC), said Sharif's killing raises questions about law and order and police investigation in the country.

Avijit Roy's father, Ajit Roy told Al Jazeera that more information could have been obtained from Sharif if he was captured alive. "Police and law enforcement agencies have committed the incident in connivance with each other."