British envoy condemns attacks on publishers

British High Commissioner in Dhaka Robert W Gibson today condemned the double attacks on publishers that killed one and injured three others.

In his twitter account, the British envoy wrote, "I condemn yet another attack on bloggers. Violence is never the answer or acceptable in any circumstances. Essential we protect free speech."

He posted his message around 6:00pm – hours after the two incidents took place in Lalmatia and Shahbagh of Dhaka.

Jagrati publishing house owner Faisal Arefin Dipan was killed in Shahbagh’s Aziz Market inside his office. In Lalmatia, Ahmedur Rashid Tutul and two other bloggers were knifed.

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.