An American blogger of Bangladeshi origin who was an outspoken critic of religious extremism was hacked to death in an attack in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Avijit Roy was walking with his wife, Rafida Ahmed, in the streets of Bangladesh's capital Thursday night when several attackers struck him with machetes, the Times of India reported. They had been returning from a book fair at Dhaka University, which they had been in Bangladesh to attend.

Bangladeshi newspaper Prothom Alo quoted police saying Ansar Bangla-7, a local Islamist group, claimed responsibility for the attack on the 44 year old. Police said an investigation is underway, but no one has yet been arrested.

Roy's blog Muko-mona was inaccessible Friday except for a banner in Bengali that read: "We mourn but we are not out."

The blogger's family said he received threats after publishing articles about secularism. His younger brother, Anujit Roy, said the writer had returned to Bangladesh earlier this month from the U.S. and was planning to go back next month.

Hundreds of students and activists protested Friday after the attack. Posters read, “We want punishment to Avijit Roy’s killers,” and “How many dead bodies we have to see?”

In 2013, blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider, who was also an outspoken critic of religious extremism, was killed in a similar attack. His attack sparked protests across Bangladesh.

Author Taslima Nasreen, who left Bangladesh 20 years ago after death threats from religious extremists, tweeted about Roy:
"Islamic terorists killed Avijit Roy @avijit_roy_MM,the talented Bengali scientist,writer,freethinkr in Dhaka tonite.We'r living in Dark Ages
11:46 PM - 26 Feb 2015"

"I admired him so much. It is so painful to accept that he is no more," she wrote on her website.
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