SHAFAQNA- A top Shia preacher and homeopathic doctor has been stabbed to death in southwestern Bangladesh in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group, the latest in a series of killings by the dreaded outfit.
Abdur Razzak, 48, was hacked to death by unidentified men last night when he was returning home from his shop in Kaliganj town in Jhenaidah district.
The IS claimed responsibility for the killing, the DailyStar reported. But police rejected the IS claim.
Razzak was a loyal Shia preacher, said Feroz Hossain, headmaster of nearby Bejpara Higher Secondary School. “He was an honest man, often preached religion.”
Razzak’s wife Shahnaj Parvin said a few months back her husband received an anonymous extortion call for Tk 2 lakh (USD 2,550).
“He had no enemy. He was a doctor and Shia follower.”
The IS has claimed a series of attacks against religious minorities in the Sunni-majority Bangladesh, which was declared officially secular after a deadly liberation struggle against Pakistan in 1971.