ICC Note:
Police in Bangladesh have arrested five Islamists in connection with an attempted murder of a Christian pastor last week. The suspects are members of a banned group in Bangladesh. Last week, a Christian pastor was attacked by unknown individuals posing as people curious about Christianity. As the pastor answered their questions about Christianity, they attempted to slit the pastors throat. The pastor was able to fend off the attackers. This attack and other recent attacks have many in Bangladesh afraid that more radicalize is happening and that similar attacks will continue to be seen.
10/12/2015 Bangladesh (News24) – Bangladesh police said on Monday they had arrested five Islamists for the attempted murder of a Christian pastor whose throat was slashed in the latest of a string of attacks blamed on religious extremists.
The five members of the outlawed Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) group have been detained on suspicion of planning or carrying out last week’s attack on Baptist pastor Luke Sarker in the town of Iswardi.
One of those arrested was suspected of having attacked Sarker before making his getaway on the back of a motorbike, while the other four were believed to have been involved in plotting the attack.
“They carried out the attack to draw international attention and destabilize the country,” district police chief Alamgir Kabir told AFP.
Sarker, who runs a church in the mainly Muslim northwestern town, was attacked on 5 October while trying to respond to a question about Christianity.
He was rushed to hospital but medical officials say he is now recovering.
The attack came only days after gunmen shot dead an Italian aid worker and a Japanese farmer. The Islamic State organization has claimed responsibility for both of those killings.
Attacks on Christians, who make up less than one percent of Bangladesh’s 160 million people, are rare although 10 people were killed in 2001 when Islamists bombed a church in the southern district of Gopalganj.
Experts say Islamist militants pose a growing danger in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, warning that a long-running political crisis has radicalized opponents of the government.
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