Unknown assailants yesterday hacked to death a Christian grocer in Natore district of Rajshahi division in northern part of the country. 60-year old Sunil Gomez was found dead in his shop, adjacent to his residence with deep hacking marks on his neck.
Police said, the killing had similarities with previous militant attack against secular thinkers and writers. According to SITE Intelligence Group, militant outfit IS has claimed responsibility for the crime. The killing has come on the same day when militants shot dead the wife of a Superintendent of Police in Chittagong.
The police officer, now based in Dhaka, had led several raids against banned militant outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, JMB in Chittagong during his earlier posting there. Bangladesh has recently seen a wave of violent killings by militants.
Since the beginning of this year alone, 13 people including rights activists and people of different faiths have been brutally killed. While IS has claimed responsibility for most of the killings, the government of Bangladesh has denied any IS presence in the country.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has blamed the opposition saying the killings are attempts to destabilize the country.