NEW DELHI, July 1 - India today denied reports that the dreaded ISIS has reached its neighbourhood, claiming that the recent killing of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh were the handiwork of Jamaat and local criminal elements.
�India is talking to Bangladesh and they have assured us that there is no footprint of ISIS in Bangladesh,� official spokesman of Ministry of External Affairs, Vikas Swarup told newsmen here today.
Jamaat and other local groups are involved. About 11,000 people have been taken into custody. �Bangladesh has assured us that they will ensure that there is no more attack on minorities in Bangladesh,� the spokesman said, replying to questions.
�We trust and hope that such action would continue,� he said.
Bangladesh has witnessed a spate of attacks on Hindus in the country, which was later owned by the ISIS. At least three men in Bangladesh have been arrested for allegedly hacking a Hindu man to death. There has been a series of murders by fundamentalists who claimed association with the ISIS. The Bangladesh Government, however, continues to insist that the international terror group has no presence in the country.
Recently, a Hindu priest in Bangladesh was hacked to death, which was the fourth such incident during the past month in more than three years of similar killings by Islamist militants.
The police suspected the involvement of the student wing of the country�s largest religious political party, the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Over 40 people have been killed in Bangladesh in a series of attacks that began in early 2013. The attacks initially targeted bloggers, but then expanded to include foreigners, gay activists and members of the religious minorities.
In an effort to forestall further violence, the Bangladesh Government launched a crackdown in early June and arrested over 11,000 people, 194 of them said to be linked to militant networks.
