Hindu priest Jogeshwar Roy hacked to death in Bangladesh temple attack

The 50-year-old priest was killed and two worshippers who attempted to help him were injured in the attack

The death of the Hindu priest comes less than a year after a string of attacks on bloggers (DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images)

A Hindu priest has been hacked to death during an attack on a temple in Bangladesh’s Panchgarh district.

Police said two people on motorbikes fired guns at Jogeshwar Roy as he left the temple, which attackers had been throwing stones at.

The men on bikes also set off explosives, injuring two other Hindu worshippers who were attempting to help the 50-year-old priest after he was attacked with what with police officer Kafil Uddin described as a sharp weapon.

The two men fled the scene following the murder, which comes less than a year after a string of similar attacks on secular bloggers. No group has claimed responsibility so far for the killing.

However, previous attacks on religious minorities in the majority-Muslim country have been carried out by Isis or other militant groups.

Although the government does not believe there to be an Isis presence in the country, Islamist groups Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh and Ansarullah Bangla Team operate in the area and are believed to have carried out at least seven attacks on foreign and minority people, killing seven people last year.

In 2015, an athiest blogger was hacked to death with a machete, and a British citizen and two other members of Ansarullah Bangla Team were arrested in connection with his murder and those of several other prominent bloggers in Bangladesh.