CLERIC’S KILLING: BANGLA HIT BY STRIKE

Dhaka: The mysterious murder of a liberal Islamic cleric and popular TV host in Bangladesh triggered an eight- hour nationwide strike on Sunday bringing the capital city to a standstill with most transport services off the road and schools shut. A group of youths barged into the house of Nurul Islam Farooqi at Razabazar area in Dhaka on August 27 and killed him keeping the family members locked in another room.

They tied Farooqi’s hands and legs with clothes in his bedroom and fled the scene after murdering him with sharp weapons. It is being speculated that Farooqi, 60, was targeted by hardliners because he used his religious programmes to speak out against Islamist militant groups, including the fundamentalist Jamaat- e- Islami party.

Farooqi hosted two popular Islamic television programmes, including Kafela.