Since 2013, at least 29 secular activists, publishers, minorities and advocates of free thinking have been killed in grisly attacks, which are believed to be works of militants.
Trial for only one such brutal attack has been completed so far.
Very little has been learnt about the killings so far. Some militant outfits claimed responsibility for the murders. These include "home-grown" outfits like Ansarullah Bangla Team, which claim to be the local affiliate of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), followers of Islamic State and Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
The fashion of these murders appears quite similar – either brutal manslaughter or bomb attacks – stereotypically hunting down the individuals and killing them brutally.
Among those "hunted down" are writers, bloggers, publishers, university teachers, foreigners, and pirs (religious leaders), their followers, and minority groups like Shias and Hindus.
The killings, which have stirred the nation into a sense of insecurity, have been condemned worldwide.