Bangladeshi writer, publisher Shahzahan Bachchu killed

DHAKA: A prominent Bangladeshi writer and publisher was dragged out of a shop and shot dead by unidentified attackers in central Bangladesh. Shahzahan Bachchu, 60, an outspoken proponent of secular principles and owner of a publishing house Bishaka Prokashoni that specialised in publishing poetry, was gunned down in his ancestral village Kakaldi in Munshiganj district on Monday evening by five assailants. Although no group has claimed responsibility, police officials from the counter-terrorism department are investigating the murder as a possible targeted attack by Islamist extremists.