Staff Reporter :
Yet another Hindu ashram attendant of Sree Sree Thakur Anukul Chandra Satsanga Ashram was murdered in a terror attack in Hemayetpur of Pabna sadar early Friday, two days after a priest was killed in the same style in Jhenidah district.
The latest gruesome murder took place amid anti-militant crackdown on secret killers across the country.
Nityaranjan Pandey 62, who had been working as an attendant of the Ashram for the last 40 years, came under attack near the ashram, Alamgir Kabir, Superintendent of Police of Pabna, told The New Nation on Friday afternoon.
Son of late Rashik Lal Pandey, Nityaranjan Pandey hailed from Gopalganj district. Police later sent the body to a local hospital for autopsy.
The police super, who visited the spot, said the criminals launched terror attack with lethal weapons on Nityaranjan Pandey, while he went out for a morning walk in the area.
“A gang of four youths swooped on Nityaranjan Pandey and started chopping him from the back direction while he was passing by the Pabna Mental Hospital at about 5:00am. They stabbed him in the head and neck. Pandey died on the spot. After committing the brutal murder, the criminals left the scene hurriedly. On information, police rushed in and recovered the body,” he added.
Replying to a query he said the motive behind the killing is yet to be known. None has been arrested in this connection. “Our police launched a massive hunt to nab the criminals,” he said.
Talking to the local correspondents, Bolai Krishna Saha, a member of Ashram, said as soon as the news spread, other members of the Ashram and local people rushed to the spot and saw the body of Nityaranjan Pandey lying in a pool of blood.
“Instantly we informed the police who later came to the spot and recovered the body. He was a dedicated attendant of the Ashram. He had no enmity with other people in the locality. We all feel insecure. We want justice,” he said.
This is the second such murder within three days. Only on Tuesday, a Hindu priest Anando Gopal Ganguly was killed in the same way in Jhenaidah on Tuesday. The criminals severed his head.
Earlier on Sunday, Mahmuda Khanam, wife of a police officer and Sunil Gomez, a Christian grocer were killed by unknown assailants in Chittagong and Natore respectively.
A five-member probe body led by Additional Superintendent of Police Liton Kumar Das has been formed to investigate the murder. The other memberts of the committee are Assistant Superintendent of Police Selim Khan, Officer-in-Charge of Sadar Police Station Abdullah Hasan and two Sub-Inspectors.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parishad threatened tougher movement if the government fails to arrest the killers of Nityaranjan within 24 hours.
