Dhaka, Nov. 1 (PTI): Protesters took to the streets in Bangladesh today blaming the government's inaction for the murders of secular writers and publishers in the country, even as the home minister termed the attacks claimed by al-Qaida in the Indian sub-continent as "isolated incidents".

Six writers and bloggers have been hacked to death in the past two-and-a-half years, five of them since January this year. Families and friends of the deceased have alleged failure on the part of police in bringing perpetrators to justice.

Faisal Arefin Dipan, 43, a publisher who worked with slain atheist writer and blogger Avijit Roy, was hacked to death yesterday in his third-floor office in central Dhaka.

The killing of Dipan came hours after unidentified assailants attacked two secular writers and another publisher of US national Roy's books, Ahmedur Rashid Tutul, leaving one of them in critically injured. A group identifying itself as Ansar al-Islam - Bangladesh chapter of al-Qaida in Indian Sub-continent - claimed responsibility.