Man held in connection with Bangladesh LGBT editor's killing

Dhaka Metropolitan Police has claimed to arrest a man in connection with the murder of LGBT rights activist Xulhaz Mannan and his friend Tonoy Fahim.

Deputy Commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Maruf Hossain Sorder said that Shariful Islam was arrested from Kushtia last night, reports the Daily Star.

Unidentified assailants hacked to death Xulhaz and Tonoy at a flat in the capital's Kalabagan area on April 25.

Xulhaz was a Political Process Analyst at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and also the editor of "Roopbaan," the country's only known magazine for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community.

According to the US-based monitoring agency SITE Intelligence Group, Bangladesh branch of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) or Ansar Al Islam has claimed responsibility for the killings.

The Bangladesh Government has, however, denied the existence of Islamic State or AQIS in the country and claimed that the killings were masterminded by 'home-grown Islamist radicals'.

Xulhaz's death adds to the list of the recent killings of secular writers, online activists and liberal publishers in Bangladesh for being vocal about their opinions in the Muslim- majority country.