A university professor was murdered in northwestern Bangladesh Saturday, in an attack similar to other killings by suspected Islamist militants.
Rezaul Karim Siddique was hacked from behind as he waited for a bus near his home in the city of Rajshahi, apparently to go to the university campus.
The 58-year-old English professor at Rajshahi University was also an advisor to several cultural programs.
Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin told reporters that by examining the nature of the attack authorities suspect that it was carried out by extremist groups.
The brutal murder was similar to other hacking deaths on secular and atheist activists in the South Asian nation carried out by Islamist militants.
The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites.
Amnesty International's South Asia Director Champa Patel condemned Siddique’s killing as "inexcusable", saying it was part of a "gruesome pattern."
Patel called on Bangladeshi authorities to do more to put an end to the killings, adding that not a single person has been brought to justice for such attacks over the past year.
Following Saturday's attack, students and professors marched on Rajshahi University's campus and blocked a major road, demanding justice.
Three professors at the university have been killed in recent years.
Earlier this month, the United States offered its resources and expertise to the Bangladeshi government as Dhaka investigates a series of murders of secular bloggers in the Muslim-majority country.
Rights groups have accused the Bangladeshi government of not doing enough to stop the attacks. At least six bloggers and a secular publisher have been killed since 2013.
