FE Report
Another blogger was hacked to death by a group of unidentified assailants in broad daylight at his rented residence in the capital's Khilgaon area on Friday, police said.
The victim was identified as Niloy Chakrabarty Neel who along with his family was residing in North Goran. He used to blog against communalism and fundamentalism on the website "Istishon" (station).
Confirming the incident, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Khilgaon police station Mustafizur Rahman told the FE that it took place about 1:40 pm at his (Neel) rented apartment housed on the top floor of a four-storey building.
He said a gang of five miscreants with sharp weapons and a firearm tactfully entered the flat and hacked him to death just after Jumma prayers by holding his family members hostage at gunpoint.
"His user name on the social networking sites was Niloy Neel and we came to know that the blogger recently received numerous threats on his life for his writings and stance against radicalism. However, we're investigating the matter to unravel the mystery behind the killing," the OC said.
Talking to the FE, victim's wife Ashamoni said a young man, aged between 20 and 22 years, entered their flat after knocking on the door and started overseeing the apartment on rent purposes.
"As I told him that we'll not leave the flat, the stranger responded, saying that the house owner offered him visiting the apartment before taking it on rent. At the same time, he was also doing something on mobile phone," she said.
"When I approached towards my husband to inform him about the matter, three more young men of the same age hurriedly entered and took her and her sister to the balcony at gunpoint before locking the door of the balcony. Then they started hacking Niloy," she added.
Meanwhile, senior police officials visited the spot.
Talking to the reporters, Joint Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Krishna Pada Roy said they found stab marks on various parts of the victim's body including back and throat. "It seems to us that it's a pre-planned killing," he added.
According to various online news portals, Ansar-Al-Islam, Bangladesh chapter of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent has claimed the responsibility for killing blogger Niloy Chakrabarty.
The portals said the group sent email to them, stating that they killed him as he was an enemy of Allah.
In February, writer-blogger Avijit Roy was hacked to death near TSC of Dhaka University. His wife and fellow blogger Rafida Ahmed Bonya was also seriously injured in the gruesome attack.
After a month, another blogger named Oyasiqur Rahman Babu was killed in a similar style in the capital's Tejgaon area.
Two months later, secular blogger Ananta Bijoy Das was killed in Sylhet.
The Amnesty International (AI) has demanded steps from the government to put an end to killings aimed at silencing dissenting voices.
"This spate of savage killings must end here. There is little doubt that these especially brutal killings are designed to sow fear and to have a chilling effect on free speech. This is unacceptable," said David Griffiths, South Asia Research Director at Amnesty International, on Friday.
The AI, an international human rights organisation, made the statement on its website following the news that blogger Niloy Neel was hacked to death.
"The Bangladeshi authorities must send a strong message that killings aimed at silencing dissenting voices are despicable and will not be tolerated," Mr. David said in his statement.
Known for his secularist views, he was the fourth blogger to meet such a brutal fate at the hands of machete-wielding groups this year, the statement said.
"The price for holding opinions and expressing them freely must not be death. The Bangladeshi authorities now have an urgent duty to make clear that no more attacks like this will be tolerated," Mr David was quoted as saying.
"Thorough, effective, independent and impartial investigations must be carried out promptly to make sure that all those responsible are brought to justice in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty," he said.
Three other bloggers had been targeted in similar killings in the country since February last-Avijit Roy, Washiqur Rahman and Ananta Bijoy Das, the AI statement mentioned.
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