Publisher killed in second attack in Dhaka

Star Online Report

The owner of Jagriti Prokashony Faisal Arefin Dipan was stabbed dead at Shahbagh in the capital hours after assailants knifed another publisher of books written by slain blogger Avijit Roy along with two bloggers at Lalmatia.
In the both the attacks – which are similar in nature, the perpetrators locked the victims inside their offices before leaving the scene.
Both the publishers published books of blogger and US citizen Avijit Roy who was killed in attack on February 26 near Teachers and Students Centre of Dhaka University.
“Dipan died of stab wounds found in the shoulder,” Muntasirul Islam, spokesperson of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), told The Daily Star.

Avijit’s publisher, 2 bloggers hacked in Dhaka

Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, publisher of Shuddhwashawr, and bloggers Ranadipam Basu and Tareque Rahim are receiving treatments at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Unknown assailants stabbed them in Dhaka’s Lalmatia area Saturday afternoon. Photo: Palash Khan

Star Online Report

• Break in and attack under broad daylight
• Stabs to the head, “gunshots fired”
• Witness describes incident
• Condition of Publisher Tutul, Tareque grave

Unknown assailants stabbed the publisher of slain blogger Avijit Roy along with two bloggers in Dhaka’s Lalmatia area this afternoon.
Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, 43, publisher of Shuddhwashawr, and bloggers Ranadipam Basu, 50, and Tareque Rahim, 30, were attending treatments at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

They all were hacked on the head, said Sentu Das, an assistant sub-inspector of the hospital’s police camp. Among them, the condition of Tutul and Tareque was said to be grave.
The attack took place at the office of Shuddhwashawr in Lalmatia Block C between 2:30pm and 3:00pm, Shamim Runa, wife of Tutul, told The Daily Star.
Ranadipam Basu, the victim attending treatments at DMCH, told The Daily Star that a group of assailants stormed in the office and hacked everyone. “They fired gunshots.”
A youth, who claimed to be a witness to the incident, sought anonymity to tell The Daily Star that a group of men stormed into the office and pinned a gun on his head to begin the assault.
“Frozen in fear, I could not tell how many there were. They stabbed the trio in the office room and left in hurry,” he said. “I also heard gunshots.” The youth was left unharmed.

Police guard the building in Lalmatia (Block C) of Dhaka after unknown assailants stabbed a publisher of slain blogger Avijit Roy and two bloggers there Saturday afternoon. Photo: Tuhin Shubhra Adhikary

CAME IN AS BOOK CUSTOMERS
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Additional Commissioner Sheikh Maruf Hassan and Tejgaon zone Deputy Commissioner Biplab Kumar Sarker visited the hospital.
DC Biplab later briefed the media.
A short message was slipped to the police from the mobile phone of one of the victims – seeking help, he said. Police went and found the office locked from the outside.
“From what we have come to know, the assailants came in posing as book customers. Then they attacked with machetes and left leaving the office locked from outside.”
Dr Ishaq, a medical officer at DMCH, confirmed The Daily Star that the wounds inflicted were caused by machetes.
This is the fourth incident of grisly attacks this month after the murder of Japanese national Kunio Hoshi in Rangpur, murder attempt of a pastor in Pabna and bomb attack on Shia community during Ashura that left one dead.
The attack on free thinkers began with that of the killing of Rajib Haider in February 2013, followed by bloggers Avijit Roy, Oyasiqur Rahman and Ananta Bijoy Das this year.

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Nepal's parliament elects nation's first female president

Presidential candidate and vice-chairperson of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) Bidhya Bhandari waves her hand after casting vote as lawmakers vote for a new president in Kathmandu, Nepal, Wednesday, October 28, 2015. Photo: AP

AP, Kathmandu

A Communist leader who has long campaigned for women's rights was elected Wednesday as Nepal's first female president.
Bidhya Devi Bhandari of the Communist Party of Nepal Unified Marxist-Leninist received 327 votes against her opponent's 214 in parliament on Wednesday, Parliament Speaker Onsari Gharti announced.
The president is the ceremonial head in Nepal while the prime minister is the nation's leader.
Bhandari, 54, is the deputy leader of the party led by Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, who was elected earlier this month and leads a coalition government. The new constitution adopted last month required Nepal to name a new president.
Bhandari is an active campaigner for women's rights in Nepal and was among the politicians who campaigned for ensuring women's rights in the new constitution. The document says one-third of the member in parliament have to be women and either the president or vice president must be a woman.
She has been a leading political figure since her husband Madan Bhandari, who was then leader of the party, was killed in a still unsolved car accident in 1993.
She also led many demonstrations against the then King Gyanendra in 2006 that finally ended his authoritarian rule and restored democracy.
Bhandari is Nepal's second president since the Himalayan nation was turned into a republic after abolishing the centuries-old monarchy. The first president, Ram Baran Yadav, was elected in 2008 and was supposed to be in office for two years. But preparing and adopting the constitution took seven years because of differences between political parties.