Machete-wielding assailants hacked to death a village doctor and wounded a university teacher in western Bangladesh in what police suspect was the latest in a series of attacks by hardline groups in the country.

The attackers on Friday rode a motorcycle which they used to block another motorbike driven by their victims in the western district of Kushtia, 245km from Dhaka, local police chief Mohammad Sahabuddin Chowdhury said.

The homeopathic doctor, Mir Sanaur Rahman, 55, was killed on the spot and his companion, identified as Saifuzzaman, 45, suffered serious wounds. Police found a bloody machete at the scene.

Suspicious murders shock Bangladesh

"We suspect Islamist militants are behind the attack," police chief Chowdhury said.

He said police were also checking whether the victims had any enemies or any other factors involved.

Also read: Bangladesh: Extremism and shrinking space for dissent

Over the past year, the South Asian nation of 160 million has seen a surge in violent attacks that have targeted atheist bloggers, academics, religious minorities and foreign aid workers.

Earlier this month, a 75-year-old Buddhist monk was hacked to death inside the temple where he lived. That killing followed the murders of two prominent gay activists, a law student, a Hindu tailor and a university professor in April.