EXCLUSIVE: People of Bangladesh React to Horrific Islamic State Decapitation

Dakha. Copyright: Abreu Report
The BBC has reported that the Islamic State is behind the horrific decapitation of a Hindu priest in Bangladesh, India's neighbor. 

The BBC wrote that the Islamic State-linked Amaq "news agency" confirmed the attack was carried out by operatives of the radical group. 

Abreu Report has a reporter on the ground in Dhaka.

Our reporter in Dhaka writes that he is presently not allowed to leave his hotel room, that everyone from his parent company is currently sheltered-in-place.

Work in the South Asian country starts at 10pm, so most people in the country haven't woken up.

The BBC wrote:

"There have been a series of recent attacks on bloggers and religious minorities including Shias, Sufis, Christians and Ahmadis by hard line Islamist militant groups. 

While attacks on foreigners remain rare, extremists have carried out a series of high-profile attacks on secular writers, hacking to death five bloggers - one a US citizen - in 2015."

Abreu Report has in the past translated the account of one of these victims. As transcribed by Abreu Report, Asif Mohiuddin said:

"I was traveling to work to start a long night shift. I was traveling by three-wheeler and from a distance I saw three men standing at the gate of my office-building; not a very unusual sight. Therefore -- not paying much attention to them -- I went to pay the fare of the three-wheeler. I was facing back to them. Then, suddenly,  I felt a hammer-blow to the back of my head. It was extremely painful and debilitating. Before I could pay much attention to that injury, I felt a stranglehold locking my head tight. Immediately afterwards, I felt a bunch of stabbing wounds in my back. Terrorists usually fail to hide their excitement during an attack; they usually swear and shout. But these terrorists were the exception, they did everything in complete silence without saying a word, not even the signature 'Allahu Akbar!'"

The Daily Start writes that the latest attack was not that different:

"Criminals slit the throat of a Hindu priest at a temple in Debiganj of Panchagarh just after dawn yesterday and fled the scene firing shots and exploding homemade bombs, which injured two devotees."

Most people quizzed about the attack have not heard about it. One Bengali woman who declined to give her name to Abreu Report said: "The attack's worrying. Today it is a priest, tomorrow who knows, anything can happen. It could be me, it could be you, it could be anyone really. It's definitely a good idea to be cautious at this point."

She further added: "The one thing I'm sure of is that it's not ISIS. ISIS does not have a foothold in our culture. I'm sure the priest was killed for other motives, probably personal, and then they spread the rumor it's ISIS so they could get more press coverage."

It seems that although the Islamic State's news agency has taken credit for the attack, local residents don't believe the group was behind it.

Last updated: 05:46 GMT
People of Bangladesh awake to terrifying nightmare. Copyright: Abreu Report