DHAKA: A Hindu businessman was hacked to death in Bangladesh after he allegedly refused to pay extortion money to drug addicts. The latest in the series of brutal murders in the Muslim-majority nation, Debesh Chandra Pramanik, 68, a shoe store owner, was murdered inside his shop in Gaibandha.
Officer in-charge Mozammel Haque said, "The assailants slit his throat using sharp weapons leaving him dead instantly." He said the police has launched an investigation into the murder and arrested a certain Nepen Chandra in connection. The victim's family said several local drug addicts tried to extort money from Pramanik a few days ago, and an argument broke out when he refused to pay up. Pramanik’s son Debashish Chandra told reporters that his father could be a victim of the drug addicts. "There was heated exchange of words after my father refused to pay them the money they demanded," he said.
Meanwhile the Islamic State has reportedly claimed responsibilities of most of the murders but Bangladeshi authorities was quick to reject them. "The home grown militants are repeatedly trying to prove their links with international outfits like IS or al Qaeda," a senior home ministry official said. "Our investigations found no link of any international group to the incidents (clandestine attacks) in Bangladesh."
Since February 2015, as many as 27 people, including five secular bloggers, a publisher and two gay right campaigners, have been killed in attacks linked to militant groups. Islamic State claimed 18 of the attacks since its first claim in September 2015 and Al Qaeda most of the rest, according to SITE.
