A Panchagarh court yesterday placed three men on 18 days' remand in two cases over the killing of a Hindu priest in Debiganj upazila.

Judge Marzia Khatun of the Cognisance Court-2 granted 10-day remand for each of them in the murder case filed by the victim's family.

In the other case, filed by police over illegally possessing firearms and explosives, the court placed the three on eight-day remand each.

The accused are Alamgir Hossain, 35, Ramzan Ali, 22, and Hares Ali, 35.

After the suspects were produced before the court, the prosecution claimed that the three were members of the banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

They were arrested in different raids on Thursday night, police claimed on Friday but refused to disclose their identities.

Criminals slit the throat of Jogeswar Dasadhikari, 50, a priest of Shri Shri Sonto Gaurio Temple at Debiganj's Sonapota, on the early morning of February 21. Two devotees were injured as the criminals fired shots and exploded homemade bombs while fleeing.

A day later, police said they had arrested three suspects -- Khalilur Rahman, Jahangir Hossain and Babul Hossain. They claimed two of the arrestees were JMB operatives while the other was an activist of Jamaat-e-Islami.

On February 23, a Panchagarh court placed the three on a 15-day remand each.

Police on Friday arranged a press conference at Debiganj Police Station where Deputy Inspector General Humayun Kabir of Rangpur police range claimed to have "completely cracked" the case.

He also said three "key suspects", including the one who had slit the priest's throat, had been arrested during drives, conducted on information gleaned from the three detained earlier, on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad in a statement yesterday demanded that the offenders be tried under the Speedy Trial Act.

The platform, along with Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Oikya Parishad, also formed human chains in Thakurgaon and Panchagarh to press home their demand.