Christian man hacked to death in Bangladesh, wife of anti-terror official shot in the head

CB Condez Tuesday, June 07, 2016

A 65-year-old Christian grocer was killed in north-west Bangladesh on Sunday, just hours after the wife of an anti-terror official was stabbed and shot in the head at the south-east part of the predominantly Muslim country.

People observe a sit-in protest around a national flag of Bangladesh with a map of the country on it, made by flowers, as they attend a mass demonstration at Shahbagh intersection in central Dhaka. | REUTERS / Andrew Biraj

"Sunil Gomes was hacked to death at his grocery store just near a church at Bonpara village," said Shafiqul Islam, the deputy police chief of the neighboring Natore district, as quoted by Agence France-Presse.

Gomes' death came amid the series of attacks on religious minorities, secular activists, and liberals. While the police said that motive was still unclear, the manner was similar to other killings in recent months.

The Islamic State claimed via Amaq, the only news agency that operates within ISIS territories, to having been responsible for the man's murder and that it was "part of a series of operations" in the country.

The secular government, however, said that the acts were perpetrated by homegrown Islamists and not by ISIS or al-Qaeda. It reportedly thinks that political rivals are trying to destabilize the nation. The government, for instance, had banned Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamist party in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, members of Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh, a banned militant group, are suspected to having been responsible for the death of Mahmuda Begum, the wife of anti-terror official Babul Akter.

"We suspect JMB or local Islamist extremists for the attack," said Chittagong Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Moktar Hossain. "Akter led successful anti-militant raids in Chittagong in which several JMB men were arrested."

Akter's wife was reportedly walking their son to a school bus stop close to their home when three men, still unidentified, stabbed her and shot her in the head. Officials surmise that this is in retaliation to Akter's anti-militant operations.

"Babul Akter is a skilled and honest officer who played vital roles in combating militants," said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan. "That's why they killed his wife as they could not find him."

According to Time, more than 40 people have been killed in Bangladesh in the past three years that targeted non-Muslims and activists.