Niloy Neel: Bangladeshi Secularist Blogger Murdered in Dhaka

Bangladeshi secularist blogger Niloy Neel has been killed by a gang armed with machetes in the capital Dhaka, police say.

Niloy Neel was attacked at his home in Dhaka’s Goran area.

He is the fourth secularist blogger to have been killed this year by suspected Islamist militants in Bangladesh.

Police said about six attackers had tricked their way into Niloy Neel’s home by saying they were looking to rent a flat.

“Two of them then took him to a room and then slaughtered him there,” deputy police commissioner Muntashirul Islam said.

“His wife was in the flat but she was confined to another room.”

In May, secular blogger Ananta Bijoy Das was killed by masked men with machetes in Sylhet. He was said to have received death threats from Islamist extremists.

In March, Washiqur Rahman was hacked to death in Dhaka. Blogger Avijit Roy was also killed in Dhaka in February.

Bangladesh is officially secular but critics say the government is indifferent to attacks on bloggers by Islamist militants.

Two people have been arrested, but no-one charged, in connection with this year’s killings.