The probe body formed by Home Ministry over the custodial death of writer Mushtaq Ahmed has concluded that he died of 'natural causes'.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal made the disclosure while talking to the reporters at his Secretariat office on Thursday.
The causes of the writer's death will be known finally after autopsy report, he said.
Earlier on February 27, the Ministry of Home Affairs formed a five-member committee to look into whether the prison authorities had any negligence in the treatment of Mushtaq.
The writer, arrested in May last year in a case filed under Digital Security Act, passed away at Kashimpur High Security Prison, Gazipur on Thursday.
News agency UNB adds: The 53-year-old writer, a businessman, was behind bars since May last year following his arrest in a case started by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on charges of spreading disinformation against the government on social media.
Calls for Mushtaq's release were widespread and sustained throughout his time in prison. Soon after his arrest, more than 300 dignitaries in Bangladesh issued a joint statement demanding his release, alongside cartoonist Ahmed Kishore.
Amnesty International reiterated the demand in a statement as recently as January, saying the duo (Kishore and Mushtaq) had been arrested "solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression."
RMM/SU