Dhaka: Three motorcycle-riding assailants hacked and shot a student to death as he was walking with a friend in the capital of Bangladesh, police said Thursday.
The killing on Wednesday night follows a string of similar attacks last year, when at least five secular bloggers and publishers were killed allegedly by the radical Islamists.
Police suspect 28-year-old Nazimuddin Samad was targeted for his outspoken atheism in the Muslim majority country, and for supporting a 2013 movement to demand capital punishment for war crimes involving the country's independence war against Pakistan in 1971, according to Dhaka Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Nurul Amin.
No group immediately claimed responsibility.
The assailants, who had been riding a single motorcycle, escaped after the assault while shouting, "Allahu Akbar," or "Allah is great."
Friends and fellow students of Samad rallied Thursday on the ground of the state-run Jagannath University, where Samad was studying law and had attended class the evening of the attack.
"This is very sad for us. We are trying whatever we can do to support the family during such difficult time," university proctor Nur Mohammad said.
A supporter of the ruling Awami League party of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Samad took part in the movement that successfully pushed authorities to create a wider scope for prosecution for the suspected war criminals.
