The United States has condemned the cowardly murder of writer and blogger Niladri Chattopadhyay in Bangladesh.
The State Department said in a release: "We offer our condolences to his family and our support to the Bangladeshi people. This heinous act once again underscores the need to work together to counter violent extremism. We stand with Bangladeshis who reject this vicious act and who work to protect space for freedom of expression."
Online activist Niladri, 40, was stabbed to death by unknown assailants at his East Goran residence in Dhaka on Friday afternoon.
A group of four youths stabbed the blogger indiscriminately in his flat on the fourth floor of a five-storey building around 130 p.m. local time, the victim's wife, Asha Moni, told The Daily Star.
Meanwhile, Ansar-Al-Islam, the Bangladesh chapter of al-Qaeda in the Indian Sub-Continent, has claimed responsibility for the killing, terming him an enemy of Allah.