3 more held over Panchagarh priest murder link

Police arrested early Friday three more people, said to be members of the banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), from different parts of Nilphamari and Panchagarh districts for their suspected link to the recent killing of a Hindu priest in Debiganj upazila.

 

Police also recovered two pistols, three magazines, one grenade, three crude bombs, five bullets and three sharp weapons from their possessions, said Gias Uddin, superintendent of police, Panchagarh, reports the UNB.

 

One of the arrestee was identified as Abdul Hares, 32, of Kalirdanga village in the upazila, said Humayun Kabir, Deputy Inspector General (Rangpur range) at a press briefing on Debiganj thana premises.

 

However, the names of other arrestees could not be known yet, the DIG said.

 

Humayun Kabir, said five JMB men were directly involved in the killing mission and of them three were arrested in the early hours of Thursday.

 

The two other JMB men who took part in the killing mission will be hunted down soon, he said.

 

The JMB men carried out the attack in a bid to destabilize the country and create panic among the Hindu community, he added.

 

With this, a total of six people have been arrested so far in connection with the killing, he said.

 

Earlier, three people-- two suspected members of JMB and a Shibir man-- were arrested in connection with the Hindu priest's murder.

 

Unidentified miscreants attacked priest Jogeswar Dasadhikari in front of Sri Sri Sonto Gaurio temple at Sonapota village in Dibiganj upazila around 6:30 am on Sunday.

 

They hacked him indiscriminately, chased him into a house behind the temple and slit his throat there, leaving him dead on the spot.

 

The attackers fled the scene firing gunshots and exploding bombs that left two devotees-- Gopal Chandra Roy, 35, and Nitai Das-- injured.