Nazimuddin Samad, 28, had been on a hit list of 84 atheist bloggers that a group of radical Islamists drew up and sent to Bangladesh’s interior ministry. A Bangladeshi law student who posted against Islamism on his Facebook page has been now murdered. Police said, “this murder is the latest in a series of killings of secular activists and bloggers in the country.”

“At least four assailants hacked Nazimuddin Samad’s head with a machete on Wednesday night. As he fell down, one of them shot him with a pistol from close range. He died on the spot,” deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan police Syed Nurul Islam told AFP.

“It is a case of targeted killing. But no group has claimed responsibility,” Islam said, adding police were investigating whether Samad was murdered for his writing.

Wafi Chowdhury, a school friend of Samad, told the Guardian News: “Nazim had lived in hostels since grade six and later moved to shared room after he joined university.”

“His stay in Dhaka has been only two months. He lived in Sylhet and most of his family members are in London,” Shamir Chandra Sutradhar, an investigations officer at the Sutrapur police in Dhaka.