A Christian grocery shopkeeper was hacked to death near a church in the Bonpara village of Bangladesh on Sunday, June 5. The Islamic State group or ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
According to SITE monitoring group, the terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack through its Amaq news agency, saying it was "part of a series of operations" in Bangladesh, the AFP reported.
The daily quoted the police as saying that unidentified criminals slaughtered the 65-year-old man, identified as Sunil Gomes. Deputy Police Chief of Natore district Shafiqul Islam said that "Gomes was hacked to death at his grocery store just near a church at Bonpara village."
According to the Dhaka Tribune, Gomes lived with his wife and his grocery store was located near his house. His daughter Swapna Gomes lived with her husband in the same village.
According to locals, Gomes apparently opened his store after returning with some goods from a nearby market. They, later, found him with his throat slit with sharp weapons.
Senior Inspector Ashraf of Baraigram police was quoted by the daily as saying that they had detained Sobuj, a tenant at Gomes' house, for interrogation. Other family members residing at the house were untraceable.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Detective Branch (DB) are reportedly handling the case. Senior officials of different law enforcement agencies also visited the spot.
The members of Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Oikya Parishad and other minority groups apparently formed a human chain at Bonpara Bazar in the afternoon and issued a seven-day ultimatum to arrest the killers.
The family members and leaders of the Christian community were quoted by the Dhaka Tribune as saying that Gomes was a gentle and peaceful person and that he didn't have any enemy.
The killing came hours after Mahmuda Begum, the wife of Babul Akter — a senior anti-terrorism officer who headed several operations against the banned Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) militant group, was murdered in Chittagong by suspected members of the local militant group. She was stabbed and shot in the head by three unidentified men while on her way to drop her son to a bus stop near her house.
At least 10 people have reportedly been killed by suspected Islamist militants in the last 10 weeks. A Hindu trader was killed last week, days after a homoeopathic doctor was murdered along with a Buddhist monk.
However, the Bangladesh government has consistently denied reports of the presence of ISIS in the country, blaming local militant groups for the killings, according to the Guardian.
