Catholic priest in Natore goes missing

An assistant priest of a Catholic Church in Natore’s Boraigram upazila has been missing since Monday afternoon.

Walter William Rosario, 40, is from the same village in the district where suspected Islamist extremists last year hacked a Catholic grocer to death as he opened his shop.

Rozario went missing after he had left his Bonpara home for the Jonail Catholic Church around 4.30pm.

A major search has been launched for Rozario, who is also headmaster of a Catholic school, after his family reported him missing, said Additional Superintendent of Police Harun-Or-Rashid.

Gerves Rosario, the bishop of the nearby city of Rajshahi, said he believed the priest had been kidnapped and that Catholics in the region were deeply worried.

“He was organizing for around 300 Catholics to travel to Dhaka to see the Pope and attend his holy mass. But his disappearance has marred their joy. They don’t want to go to Dhaka anymore,” said the bishop.