Panchagarh: A total of five people were directly involved in the killing of a Hindu priest in Panchagarh, said Rangpur range police on Friday.

Rangpur range deputy inspector general (DIG) Humayun Kabir in a press conference held at Debiganj in Panchagarh, said the accused are members of banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

Humayun Kabir said police arrested two including the prime accused from Kalirdanga area of Shundardighi in Debiganj in the early hours of Friday while another accused were held from Nilphamari.

The DIG said police also seized a machete, two pistols, three magazines, five bullets, three knives, and three cocktails from their possessions.

The police also recovered a bi-cycle, which was used during the murder.

DIG did not disclose the names of the accused due to the privacy of the investigation. The accused were not presented before the press conference.

However, former union council member of Debiganj Dandapal union ward 2 Moshiur Rahman, who is also an advisor to Community police, said Abdul Hares, around 32, was held from Kalirdanga village of Shundardighi union, and Ramzan Ali, around 25, was detained from Pradhanbad village of the same union.

DIG said five JMB men were directly involved in the killing mission and of them three were arrested in the early hours of Thursday.

The police officials said a total of six people were arrested in this connection.

On 21 February, miscreants killed the head of a monastery by slitting his throat at Debiganj upazila in Panchagarh, about 475km northwest of capital Dhaka.

The deceased is the head of Sri Sri Santo Gourio monastery Jaggeshwar Roy, believed to be in his fifties.

The miscreants also shot a saint, Gopal Chandra Roy, who is at his thirties, while left another man, named Nitai Pada Das, around 40, injured in a crude bomb attack.

Some of the attacks have been claimed by Islamic State, which has also said it is behind the killings of a Japanese citizen, an Italian aid worker and a policeman, reports Reuters.

Meanwhile, Maryland, USA, based SITE Intelligence Group confirmed that IS had claimed the responsibility of the killing.

Earlier, police held three suspected members of JMB and Islami Chhatra Shibir in this connection.