Three secular bloggers, including a publisher of slain blogger Avijit Roy, were hacked in the Bangladeshi capital on Saturday in the latest attack on writers in the country.
Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, 43, Ranadipam Basu, 50, and Tareque Rahim, 30, were taken to the hospital with severe injuries after they were hacked by unknown assailants at the office of Shuddhaswar Publications in the capital.
A witness shared that the assailants also fired gunshots, though the police said the victims’ wounds were caused by knife attacks. The attackers locked them up in the office from outside and then left the scene immediately after injuring them.
Tutul, who runs Shuddhaswar Publications, is critical. He had lodged a complaint with police after receiving death threats on Facebook following Roy’s murder in February this year.
Four secularist bloggers have been killed by suspected Islamist militants in Bangladesh this year.
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