Noor Mohammad aka Sabu, a Islamist militant leader who was sentenced to death for the murder of writer Humayun Azad, fled to Saudi Arabia immediately after the 2004 attack.

Additional Inspector General SM Ruhul Amin of police’s Anti-Terrorism Unit came up with the details about Sabu at a media briefing on Tuesday after the arrest of the leader of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh or JMB at Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.

“Sabu directly took part in the attack on Azad. He left the country after the law-enforcing agencies strengthened the anti-militant operations after the attack. He worked as a labourer in Saudi Arabia for 20 years,” Ruhul said.

Azad was a prolific writer and professor of Bangla literature at Dhaka University well-known for his support of freethinking. He came under attack on the campus after leaving the Bangla Academy during the Amar Ekushey Book Fair on Feb 27, 2004.

In August of that year, he went to Germany for research following his treatment for months. He was found dead at his apartment in Munich on Aug 12.

A day after the attack, Azad’s brother Manjur Kabir filed an attempted murder case with Ramna Police Station, but it was subsequently turned into a murder case after further investigation.

On Apr 13, 2022, a Dhaka court sentenced four JMB militants to death for the murder of Azad. Sabu aka Shameem was one of them.

“Sabu joined the banned militant group by taking an oath to its emir Shaikh Abdur Rahman. He was invited to the group by Ataur Rahman Sunny, chief of JMB’s military wing,” Ruhul said.

“In Bangladesh, Sabu had taken part in organisational work with numerous top JMB leaders, including Salahuddin Salehin, Hafez Shahid, Mizanur Rahman alias Minhaz alias Shaon alias Shakib alias Hasib, Anowarul Alam alias Bhangne Shahid, Md Hafiz Mahmud alias Rakib.”

Infuriated by Azad’s novel ‘Pak Sar Jamin Sad Bad’, the JMB plotted the writer’s murder, Ruhul said.

“On instructions from JMB emir Rahman, Sabu took part in the attack with Sunny, Salehin, Shahid and others.”

Three other death row convicts in the case are - JMB Shura member Minhaz, Anowarul Alam and Salehin.