Bangladeshi blogger stabbed to death; second such attack in a month

A blogger was stabbed to death in Dhaka early Monday, a month after a similar attack killed a Bangladeshi American blogger visiting his homeland.

Washiqur Rahman Babu was attacked by three men, two of whom were arrested a short time later, police said.

Humayun Kabir, an assistant sub-inspector with the police in the Tejgaon industrial area, said Washiqur was attacked near his home as he was on his way to work. He was taken to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he was declared dead.

Avijit Roy, a blogger of Bangladeshi origin living in the Atlanta area, was killed in a similar attack on Feb. 26. He was an outspoken critic of Islamist extremism.

In Monday’s attack, the 27-year-old blogger was killed over an “ideological difference,” police said. They identified the two suspects who were arrested as students at Islamic madrassas, or schools.

One of the suspects told reporters that they had attacked Washiqur “because he humiliated my prophet,” the Associated Press reported, apparently a reference to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Washiqur, who was an admirer of Roy, worked for a travel agency. After Roy’s death, Washiqur paid tribute to him on his Facebook page with the text: #iamavijit and words cannot be killed.

He was a member of eight Facebook group pages, including one titled Atheist Bangladesh.

Police arrested Shafiur Rahman Farabi in Roy’s killing but were seeking other suspects. He had earlier threatened Roy via social media.

Another Bangladeshi blogger, Ahmed Rajib Haider, was killed in 2013.

Kader is a special correspondent.