Third Bangladeshi blogger hacked to death

Dhaka, May 12: Another blogger was hacked to death on Tuesday in north-eastern Bangladesh in the third such deadly attack this year, police officials said. Ananta Bijoy Das was attacked by a masked gang wielding machetes in the city of Sylhet. “Four armed assailants attacked him when he was travelling in a rickshaw,” a police official said. Das was rushed to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. He was an activist of the 'Ganajagaran Mancha', the forum demanding a ban on Islamist parties and death penalty for convicted war criminals, bdnews24.com reported. He used to blog on 'Mukto Mona', a website propagating rationalism and opposing fundamentalism, that was started by late blogger Avijit Roy, who was also hacked to death near Dhaka University in February. In March, another blogger, Washiqur Rahman, was hacked to death in Dhaka. Earlier this month, the Al Qaeda's Indian offshoot claimed responsibility for the killings of the bloggers in Bangladesh and dubbed them "blasphemers".