Bangladesh police say Buddhist monk killed in monastery

DHAKA, Bangladesh – Police say a 75-year-old Buddhist monk has been killed in a monastery in southeastern Bangladesh.

Local police official Abul Khayer says the body of Maung Shue U. Chak was found Saturday morning by his daughter-in-law when she went to give him some food. His throat had been slit overnight.

While no one has claimed responsibility for the killing, it follows a slew of murders in recent years of members of religious minority groups, foreigners, atheist bloggers and secular publishers in Bangladesh by suspected Islamist radicals.

The killings have come amid growing concern that religious extremism is gaining ground in the once moderate Muslim-majority nation of 160 million.