BANGLADESH, February 22, 2016 (Daily Star): Criminals slit the throat of a Hindu priest at a temple in Debiganj of Panchagarh just after dawn yesterday and fled the scene firing shots and exploding homemade bombs, which injured two devotees. Deceased Jogeswar Dasadhikari, 50, is the latest victim of a recent string of attacks on clerics and prayer houses of minorities in Bangladesh over the last few months.
SITE, an intelligence group, on its website news.siteintelgroup.com said Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for killing Jogeswar but this paper could not independently verify the claim. A top official of Panchagarh police denied that there was any presence of the terror outfit in the district. “Yet, we will verify the claim.” Police arrested Khalilur Rahman of the upazila yesterday evening in connection with the killing, said Babul Akhter, officer-in-charge of Debiganj Police Station.
A life-long bachelor, Jogeswar built the temple in 1998 just half a kilometer away from the upazila headquarters selling off his land and other properties, said Jogeswar’s elder brother, Rabindranath Roy. He had been living there and several hundred devotees from nearby villages visit the temple and offer prayers each day, he added. With the killing of Jogeswar, at least three clerics were attacked in last five months across the country.