Controversial Bangladeshi blogger hacked to death

A KNIFE-WIELDING mob has hacked to death a U.S.-Bangladeshi blogger whose writing on religion had brought threats from Islamist hardliners.

Avijit Roy, an atheist who advocated secularism, was attacked in Dhaka as he walked back from a book fair with his wife, who was hurt in the attack.

No-one has been arrested but police say they are investigating a local Islamist group that praised the killing.

Hundreds of students gathered in Dhaka to mourn the blogger’s death.

Mr Roy’s family say he had received threats after publishing articles promoting secular views, science and social issues on his Bengali-language blog, Mukto-mona, or Free Mind.

He defended atheism in a recent Facebook post, calling it “a rational concept to oppose any unscientific and irrational belief“.

The website was inaccessible on Friday.