Dhaka: A Japanese citizen was shot dead by gunmen in a northern Bangladesh town on Saturday, police said, days after an Italian aid worker was murdered in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
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The deceased has been identified as Hosi Koniyo.
The assassins, wearing masks, fled the scene on a motorbike.
Unknown assailants on a motorcycle fired at the Japanese in Rangpur’s Kawnia Upazila around 11am on Saturday, killing him on the spot.
“Koniyo was alone in the rickshaw”.
Local reports said he was involved in “philanthropic activities” and an “agriculture project”.
Police said one of the three confined individuals was a rickshaw puller and another is proprietor of a living apartment near where the assault occurred. Police are yet to arrest anyone over Tavella’s killing.
The incident came less than a week after an Italian aid worker was shot dead near the diplomatic zone of Dhaka.
In that one, an Italian who has been employing on a project in Bangladesh, Cesare Tavella, was shot dead by three shooters in the nation asserted by Islamic State.
The Bangladesh government sought to allay concerns over the safety of foreign nationals in the country after the second killing in a week, saying it was taking both murders “very seriously”.
Security officials, however, have not ruled out that IS could be using “local sympathisers” to carry out such attacks.
Bangladesh prides itself on being a mainly moderate Muslim country.
On the other hand, as repercussions of this event, the Bangladesh-Australia cricket series which was supposed to begin today has been postponed as Australian team cancelled their trip to Bangladesh showing security reason.
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