No arrest yet in Ananda murder case

Police have yet to make any arrest in connection with the gruesome killing of elderly Hindu priest Ananda Gopal Ganguly, who was hacked to death on Tuesday.

The police said a case was filed in connection with the killing yesterday morning accusing unnamed persons and they have launched a manhunt for the culprits.

Two officials of the Indian High Commission in Dhaka have meanwhile paid a visit to Ananda's house in Karatipara of Jhenidah Sadar, expressing their condolence to the bereaved family.

They are First Secretary (political and information) Rajesh Uike and First Secretary (consular) Ramakant Gupta.

Ananda's widow Shefali Rani and their daughters and sons burst into tears during their visit yesterday.

The family members said the Indian officials assured them of providing financial support.

Superintendent of Police in Jhenidah Altaf Hossain, Bangladesh Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parishad Jhenidah unit General Secretary Subir Kumar Samaddar and Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad central leader Kanak Kanti Das were present.

Speaking to reporters, SP Altaf Hossain said they have launched several drives to arrest the criminals.

He urged the family members to keep patience, assuring them of providing financial support from the police.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) Hasan Hafizur Rahman of Jhenidah Sadar police said Ananda's son Arun Gopal Ganguly filed a murder case accusing unnamed persons.

Deputy Inspector General (Khulna Range) of Police SM Maniruzzaman, who visited Ananda's family on Tuesday afternoon, said militants might have been involved.

Seventy-year-old Ananda was brutally murdered when he was going to a temple in Naldanga union under Sadar upazila on Tuesday morning.

Three attackers on a motorcycle intercepted Ananda, who was on a bicycle, in Sonakhali area, about two kilometres off his house, said police based on witnesses' accounts.

The murder of the Hindu priest came only two days into the gruesome killings of a police official's wife in Chittagong and a Christian grocer in Natore on Sunday.

Hours after the killing of Ananda, global terror outfit Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for it, says a post on SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors terror activities globally.