A Panchagarh court yesterday placed three suspects on remand in connection with two cases filed for the killing of a priest at Sri Sri Sonto Gaurio temple in Debiganj upazila.

Judge Marzia Khatun of the Cognisance Court-2 put the trio on 10-day remand each in the murder case. They were also remanded for five days each for the case filed for allegedly possessing illegal firearms and explosives after police produced them before the court around 12:45pm.

US Ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Bernicat has meanwhile condemned the brutal killing of the Hindu priest, saying it was a "cowardly act".

Police claim two of the suspects -- Khalilur Rahman and Jahangir Hossain -- are members of the banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). The third suspect, Babul Hossain, is an activist of Jamaat-e-Islami, they say.   

Unidentified assailants attacked priest Jogeswar Dasadhikari, 50, of Sri Sri Sonto Gaurio temple on Sunday morning when he was preparing his offerings for the morning puja at the temple, about half a kilometre away from the upazila headquarters.

They first hacked him indiscriminately in front of the temple and chased him to a house in the backyard where they slit his throat, leaving him dead on the spot, police said quoting locals. 

The attackers shot devotee Gopal Chandra Roy, 35, who was undergoing treatment at Rangpur Medical College Hospital (RMCH) and also hurt another devotee Nitai Das by hurling a crude bomb while escaping.    

Locals said they saw three people fleeing the scene on a motorcycle. 

Jogeswar's elder brother Rabindranath Roy filed a murder case with Debiganj police accusing three unknown people on Sunday night. The police also filed a case for possessing firearms and explosives.

Although the police arrested the three suspects, they are still clueless about the motive behind the gruesome murder.

Law enforcers picked up Khalil on Sunday evening from Bhaulaganj Bazar, while Jahangir and Babul were arrested at their houses in the upazila during an overnight drive, police said.

Police sources said the arrestees were accused in criminal cases in the past.

US AMBASSADOR CONDEMNS

The US has strongly condemned the "cowardly acts" that target members of a community with historic roots in Bangladesh and strike at the country's traditions of diversity and harmony.

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms these cowardly acts," US Ambassador in Dhaka Marcia Bernicat said in an oblique reference to the February 21 killing of a Hindu priest and injury of another person in Panchagarh.

The US supports the Government of Bangladesh's efforts to identify the perpetrators of this and all extremist attacks, she said in a statement yesterday without mentioning any name or specifying any incident.

"The Government of Bangladesh's commitment to rooting out militancy is demonstrated by the recent arrest of suspects involved in these incidents and by the counter-terrorism raid in Dhaka, which lead to the seizure of bombs and bomb-making materials," Bernicat added.