Alleged operatives of radical Islamists killed a second online activist and blogger within a month in Dhaka, inflicting a fresh blow to the nation’s culture of tolerance and free thinking.
In the latest murder of Oyasiqur Rahman Babu (27), the killers had trained well before setting off on their mission, and the investigators found evidence of sound coordination by the killers who earlier hacked to death well-known Bangladeshi-U.S. free thinker and blogger Avijit Roy.
Almost unknown, Babu was murdered in broad daylight on March 30. He wrote against religious bigotry and fanaticism on Facebook.
Investigators said the young man was murdered by a “buffer cell” of fanatics and had been planned at least 15 days prior to the execution. A fanatic group, Ansarullah Bangla Team, had used similar buffers, that they call “sleeper cell”, as they had for murdering Avijit Roy on February 26.
The chief of Ansarullah Bangla Team, Jasimuddin Rahmani, is being tried for his suspected role in the murder of Ahmed Rajib Hider, another blogger.
