Hindu priest hacked to death in latest religious-hate killing in Bangladesh

A Hindu priest was hacked to death on Friday at a temple in the latest of a series of attacks linked to Muslim hardliners in Bangladesh. Shyamananda Das Babaji Moharaj was killed by three men riding a motorcycle as he was walking near his temple in Jhenaidah district. The 45-year-old was slashed across the neck and head several times. “The nature of killing was similar with the local militants, but we cannot say more at the moment,” said Mahbubur Rahman, the head of the local administration.

He was preparing morning prayers with flowers at the temple early in the morning and that time three young people came by a motor bike and killed him with machetes and fled away.

Local official Mahbubur Rahman

Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of 160 million people, has seen a surge in violent attacks on liberal activists, members of minority Muslim sects and other religious groups in recent months. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for some of the recent killings. The government, however, denies the group has any presence in the country and says homegrown groups are behind the spate of attacks. Police said they did not know the motive behind the latest killing and that no one had been arrested.

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