Hindu temple worker hacked to death in Bangladesh

A Hindu temple worker was hacked to death by unidentified assailants in Bangladesh's Pabna district on Friday morning.

Nitya Ranjan Pande, 60, was a worker at Sri Sri Thakur Anukul Chandra Satsanga Ashram at Hemayetpur in Pabna Sadar upazila.

Alamgir Kabir, superintendent of police in Pabna, confirmed the killing but said the motive behind the killing is yet to be known, reports Daily Star.

Abdullah Al Hasan, officer-in-charge of Pabna Sadar Police Station said that the locals found the body of Nitya Ranjan lying on a field, a few yards off the Hemayetpur mental hospital, around 5:00 a.m. local time.

He added that police is investigating the incident.

With today's murder, at least eight people became victims of such targeted killings since May 1.

Few days ago, a Hindu priest was hacked to death in Jhenaidah, a Christian grocer in Natore and the wife of a crime-burster senior police officer in Chittagong.

The murder in the region took place amid a weeklong clampdown that has been launched by the police on militants across the country which starts today.

Over the last two years, suspected militants have attacked and killed university professors, writers, publishers, secular bloggers, gay rights activists, and members of religious minorities for being vocal about their opinion or not sharing the same religious thoughts as they do.