A Pir (spiritual leader) has been hacked to death in Rajshahi's Tanor upazila in a fashion that bears the hallmark of previous murders of bloggers and secular activists.

The victim, Shahidullah, 65, was found dead with gashes on the right shoulder and a slit throat in a mango orchard, our Rajshahi correspondent reports quoting police.

Police recovered the body after being informed by locals around 10:00pm last night, Abdur Razzak, officer-in-charge of Tanor Police Station, said. "It seems he was hacked first and then slaughtered."

This killing is the latest in the spate of grisly murders that has been haunting the north since last year. Recently, a Rajshahi University professor was murdered in similar fashion in the district.

Son of the victim, Russel Ahmed, sued anonymous people in a case filed with Tanor Police Station. He said his father was a follower of "Torika Ponthi" (a particular spiritual path) and might have had enmity with followers of other path.

Police did not comment on the motive or the fashion of the murder immediately.

The northern division has been plagued by at least 14 untoward incidents for the past seven months that relate to militancy and resulted in death of at least six people including a foreigner.

There have been attacks on temples of the Hindu minority, mosques belonging to Shia minority and murder attempts of Christian pastors and others.

Responsibility of all those attacks, bomb blasts and killings have been claimed by militants.