Third Bangladeshi blogger killed in machete attack

A secular blogger in Bangladesh has been hacked to death in north-eastern Bangladesh in the third such deadly attack since the start of the year, police say.

Ananta Bijoy Das was attacked by a masked gang wielding machetes in the city of Sylhet, reports say. Das wrote blogs for Mukto-Mona, a website once moderated by Avijit Roy, himself hacked to death in February.

Roy, a Bangladeshi-born US writer, had criticised religious intolerance. He was killed in a machete attack while he was visiting the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, as he returned with his wife from a book fair in the city. His widow suffered head injuries and lost a finger.

In March another blogger, Washiqur Rahman, was hacked to death in Dhaka.

Last month's attack on  Roy prompted massive protests from students and social activists, who accused the authorities of failing to protect critics of religious bigotry.