A 65-year-old Hindu priest killed in Bangladesh

A 65-year-old Hindu priest was killed on Tuesday by three bike-borne assailants in Bangladesh while he was on his way to a temple, the latest murder in the Muslim-majority nation which has seen a string of brutal attacks on minorities and secular activists by Islamists.

Ananta Gopal Ganguly was attacked at around 9:30 a.m. by three men who slit his throat with sharp-edged weapons in the western Jhinaigah district, Assistant Superintendent of Police Gopinath Kanjilal said, adding that militants carried out the murder.

Police said they have recovered the body and sent it for an autopsy. An investigation was launched into the incident.

There have been systematic assaults in Bangladesh in recent months specially targeting minorities, secular bloggers, intellectuals and foreigners.

On Sunday, a Christian businessman was hacked to death by unidentified machete-wielding men near a church, hours after the wife of a top anti-terror police officer was shot dead by religious extremists.

In April, a liberal professor was brutally hacked to death by machete-wielding ISIS militants who slit his throat near his home in Rajshahi city. In the same month, a Hindu tailor was also hacked to death by ISIS militants in his shop.

The ISIS and Al-Qaeda in Indian Peninsula have claimed responsibility for some of the attacks although the government denies their presence in Bangladesh.