The journalists yesterday also visited the grave of the slain editor and prayed for the salvation of his soul. The Qulkhwani of the deceased editor was held yesterday after Asr prayers at Iqbalnagar mosque ground.

A protest rally will be held today at Khulna Press Club auditorium.

A senior police officer of Khulna Metropolitan Police, meanwhile, said Balu received a letter from Purbo Banglar Communist Party (Janajuddha) early this month asking him to pay Tk 50,000 in toll. The letter also asked him to tell his colleagues, as the president of Khulna Press Club, not to misreport on the ongoing killing of the leftist extremists.

In another development, outlawed New Biplobi Communist Party (NBCP) on Tuesday night threatened to blow up the office of local daily Dainik Prabarton. One Nuruzzaman, who claimed to be regional leader of the underground party, made the threat on telephone. The daily's Dumuria Upazila Correspondent Hedayet Hossain received a death threat on telephone, said its editor Mostafa Sarwar.

The caller also said the newspaper office would be blown up for running reports that the armed cadres of the NBCP with the help of some policemen are committing crime.

The outlaws also asked Hedayet not to file any complaint against the death threat with police, the editor said.