Dhaka, Aug. 10 (PTI): Bangladesh police have asked secular bloggers not to "cross the limit" and write anything that hurts the religious beliefs of others.

"Do not cross the limit. Do not hurt anyone's religious beliefs," inspector-general of police A.K.M. Shahidul Hoque said as investigators struggled to nab the killers of blogger Niladri Chattopadhyay Niloy who was hacked to death at his flat here on Friday. Niloy, 40, used the pseudonym Niloy Neel.

The "freethinkers" should keep in mind that hurting someone's religious sentiment is a criminal offence, the website, bdnews.com, quoted Hoque as saying.

On Niloy's killing, Hoque said the police were probing the murder "with top priority".

He is the fourth blogger to be killed since February this year. Hours after the gruesome attack, Ansar-Al-Islam, the Bangladesh branch of al Qaida in the Indian Sub-continent, claimed responsibility for the killing. However, the police said, the involvement of the banned outfit cannot be confirmed.

Police have ascertained that the email claiming responsibility for Niloy's murder originated in Bangladesh. Apart from Niloy, the bloggers killed this year are Avijit Roy, Washiqur Rahman and Ananta Bijoy Das.

Meanwhile, an FBI team met local detectives in Dhaka to share their technical expertise in probing such cases, deputy commissioner (detective branch) Mahbub Alam of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police said after the meeting.

Alam said the FBI team also inquired about the progress of the investigation into Avijit Roy's murder.