DHAKA: A Hindu monastery worker was hacked to death on Friday in what police suspected was fourth killing in a week by Islamists attacking minority groups in Bangladesh.

Nitya Ranjan Pandey, 60, who had volunteered at the monastery for 40 years, was taking a walk in the north-western district of Pabna when he was attacked, police said. “He was found lying in a pool of blood,” district police chief Alamgir Kabir said, adding that no one saw the attackers as the attack took place early in the morning.

Hundreds of suspects have been held across the country after police launched a week-long crackdown on militants after a wave of gruesome killings.

This week alone, an elderly Hindu priest and a Christian shopkeeper were hacked to death, and the Muslim wife of a counter-terrorism police official was also killed.

Militants have killed more than 30 people in Bangladesh, including members of religious minorities, liberal bloggers and academics, since February last year.

The militant Islamic State group or Al Qaeda have clai­med responsibility for most of the killings, but the government denies either group has a presence in Bangladesh and says domestic militants are responsible.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2016