DHAKA: A Hindu priest was hacked to death in western Bangladesh Friday, police said, in the latest incident in a series of attacks on religious minorities. Shaymanonda Das, 45, was hacked to death in front of a temple in Jhinaidah district headquarters, 300km (188 miles) southwest from the capital Dhaka. “He was preparing morning prayers with flowers at the temple early in the morning and that time three young people came by a motor bike and killed him with machetes and fled away,” said Mahbubur Rahman, the chief of Jhenaidah district administration. Islamic State and Al Qaeda have claimed responsibility for the killings of more than 30 people since early last year, in an escalation of militant violence targeting liberals, atheists, foreigners, gays and religious minorities. They have shocked the largely moderate Muslim country of 160 million people and heightened fears that Bangladesh, once hailed as the next Asian tiger economy with its huge garment industry, could lose out to more stable competitors in the region. Unlike some security experts, Bangladesh authorities say the two banned outfits are not directly involved in the murders, many of which were carried out with machetes.