A Sylhet court granted a seven-day remand for an aide to the attacker of Prof Muhammed Zafar Iqbal yesterday, a day after he had been arrested in Sylhet.

Based on the confessional statement of attacker Foyzur Hasan, police arrested Shohag Miah, 27, on Sunday morning, said Shafiqur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Jalalabad Police Station.

Readymade cloth trader Shohag, and Foyzur, a suspected Islamist, are residents of Dira upazila, Sunamganj. Shohag used to provide Foyzur with extremist videos and lectures which eventually influenced the latter to attack Dr Iqbal with a knife during a programme at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology on March 3, the statement said.

But, police are still investigating whether the two have any direct connection with militancy or any banned radical organisation, Shafiqur added.