Now Hindu priest slaughtered in Jhenaidah

Ananda Gopal Ganguly, a sexagenarian Hindu priest in the local Noldanga temple, was hacked with a sharp weapon before having his throat slit by unidentified killers near Mohishadanga Beel yesterday morning. Hours after the murder, SITE intelligence group quoted the so-called Islamic State's Amaq Agency of reporting that “ISIS fighters killed a Hindu priest in Jhenaidah district of western #Bangladesh.” The killing came just two days after a police superintendent's wife was shot and hacked to death in Chittagong and a Christian grocer was also hacked to death in Natore. Yesterday, Ananda Gopal was on his bicycle at the time of the attack, heading to perform a puja in Kaliganj College Para, his family told the Dhaka Tribune. The attack took place on the road that goes through Shonaikhali field in Mohishar Bhagar, just two kilometres away from Ananda Gopal's home. There was reportedly no eyewitnesses, but the Dhaka Tribune spoke with locals and found that three young men on a motorcycle were seen roaming in the area right before the attack took place. Locals notified the police after they found the priest's body in the field. Sadar police station Officer-in-Charge Hasan Hafizur Rahman said: “Unidentified miscreants have slit Gopal's throat around 9am. Only after proper investigation, it can be said whether there is a militant link with the killing.” However, Jhenaidah Sadar circle's assistant superintendent of police, Gopinath Kanjilal, told the Dhaka Tribune that the way the murder was committed suggests that militants might have been involved. The deceased priest's brother Gobinda Gopal Ganguly said Ananda made his living by performing pujas in the area, adding that he did not have a single enemy. Following the attack, fear has gripped the local Hindu community. Montu Gopal, the organising secretary of Noldanga Shidhweshary Mayer Mondir said the other priests are panicked about their own safety. Two of the temple's priests were sent home under police escort after news about Ananda Gopal's death reached the area. The Dhaka Tribune repeatedly tried to contact police's Noldanga camp ASI Golam Rahman to get his comments on what the local police was doing to protect the priests, but he did not receive any phone calls.