Police in northwestern Bangladesh said they have arrested five suspected members of a banned radical group for alleged involvement in an attempt to kill a Christian pastor.
Police chief Alamgir Kabir in Pabna district said that the suspected members of Jumatul Mujahedeen Bangladesh were arrested in raids in the capital, Dhaka, and elsewhere over past few days.
The Rev. Luke Sarker, 52, suffered minor injuries when three men attacked him with a knife at his home on Oct. 5. The men had told Sarker that they wanted to learn about Christianity.
The attempt took place days after the killings of two foreigners in the predominantly Muslim country. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attacks on a Japanese agricultural worker and an Italian aid worker. The claim was rejected by Bangladesh’s government, which accused the opposition of trying to destabilize the country.
Earlier, police arrested a member of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami political party, for alleged involvement in the attack on the pastor. AP
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