Bangladesh doctor hacked to death ‘in IS attack’

A village doctor has been hacked to death and a university teacher seriously wounded by men wielding machetes in western Bangladesh.

It is the latest in a series of attacks by suspected Islamists on secularists and religious minorities who promote liberal views in the country.

Police said homeopathic doctor Sanaur Rahman was riding a motorcycle with his friend Saif uz Zaman when they were cornered and attacked by three men.

The assailants then fled the scene in the district of Kushtia, 150 miles (245km) from the capital Dhaka. A bloody machete was later found nearby.

Islamic State has said its members were behind the murder, but authorities insist the group has no presence in the country and says homegrown Islamists were responsible for recent attacks.

District police chief Mohammad Chowdhury said police were trying to identify a motive but media reports say associates of Mr Rahman claimed he had a reputation for progressive views, while the university teacher was known by friends as a secularist.

Amaq, the news agency of the Islamic State, alleged that the homeopath was attacked because he promoted Christianity.

Mr Rahman’s brother-in-law said: “He used to distribute homeopathic medicine to villagers at his garden house every Friday. We don’t think he had any enemies.”

Friday’s attack comes after a spate of murders by suspected Islamist militants in Bangladesh, and increasing concern about the safety of minorities and free speech in the Muslim-majority country.

A Buddhist monk was hacked to death last week, while in the past month an atheist student, two gay rights activists, a liberal professor, a Hindu tailor and a Sufi Muslim leader have all been murdered in the country.

IS and a Bangladeshi branch of al Qaeda have said that they carried out several of the attacks.

Prime Minister Sheik Hasina’s secular government government has accused opposition groups of supporting hardline religious radicals. Sky News