Man Arrested in Hacking Death of LGBT Journalist

A suspect has been arrested in connection with the hacking deaths of two LGBT activists in Bangladesh.

Police in Kushtia, in western Bangladesh, said that 37-year-old Shariful Islan Shihab had been taken into custody.

Xulhaz Mannan and Tanay Mojumdar both died near Mannan's apartment in April after a group of men attacked the pair with machetes and guns. Mannan was the editor of the country's only LGBT magazine, Roopbaan, and a former employee of the U.S. embassy.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told Bangladeshi authorities to step investigations into the killings and other related deaths in the country, where terrorist groups have targeted sexual and religious minorities.

Authorities are questioning Shihab in regard to the killings and other activities of Islamist groups in the country.