Security has been tightened at Dhaka’s Ramkrishna Mission following death threat to a priest by suspected militants .
The threat came in the form of a letter on Wednesday. The priest said he was ordered by the sender of the letter not to preach his religion. Otherwise he would be hacked to death with machetes.
The letter was sent reportedly by ‘AB Siddique’ of the Islamic State, Bangladesh chapter from Chourasta Eidgaon market in Gazipur, on the outskirts of Dhaka. The priest filed a general diary with Dhaka’s Wari Police Station, Zeahad Hossain, officer-in-charge of the police station, said.
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The letter reads, “You are Hindus, Bangladesh is an Islamic country. You cannot preach Hindu religion in the country. Go to India. Otherwise, you will be hacked to death”.
High Commission of India (Dhaka) contacted Bangladesh Police & MoFA: Vikas Swarup on issue of Ramakrishna Mission in Dhaka...(contd)
— ANI (@ANI_news)>June 17, 2016
...receiving a threat letter, purportedly from IS. "Assured full support & protection. Also in direct contact with RK Mission in Dhaka"
— ANI (@ANI_news)>June 17, 2016
The death threat came amid a special weeklong crackdown against the militants as targeted killing continues.
Admitting about the threat, Monirul Islam, additional police commissioner and chief of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit under Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said at a press briefing on Thursday that investigation is going on to identify the sender of the letter.
Nityaranjan Pandey, a sebak at Sree Sree Thakur Anukulchandra Satsang ashram in northern Pabna hacked to death last week, was the latest victim in a spate of such killings. Only on Wednesday, unknown assailants have badly injured a college teacher, hacking him with sharp weapons after entering his home at western Madaripur town.Ripon Chakrabarty, of the Government Najimuddin College, is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital with head and hand injuries. Locals caught one of the attackers while they were fleeing and handed him over to police.
Police suspect the attempt to murder Ripon Chakrabarty may be part of the plan under which similar attacks took place in recent months at different place across Bangladesh.
Publisher’s attacker held
Law enforcers meanwhile claimed to have arrested a suspected militant who directly took part in the murder attempt on publisher Ahmedur Rashid Tutul last year. The suspect, Shihab alias Saiful alias Sumon, is said to be a member of banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) — a group accredited with many militant killings.
Police earlier had floated photographs and placed a bounty on the heads of some militants including Shihab.
On October 31 last year, unidentified assailants hacked to death publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan of Jagriti Prokashani and critically injured Ahmedur Rashid Tutul of the Shuddhoswar Prokashan in Dhaka . The twin attacks, when two others friends of Tutul also came under machete attacks spread a wave of panic throughout the country.
A group “Ansar Al Islam” (al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent’s Bangladesh branch),” claimed responsibility through an email sent to different media outlets.