New Delhi: Reacting to the brutal murder of a Hindu priest in Bangladesh, celebrated author Taslima Nasreen said on Monday that the hardcore Islamists do not want Hindu population in the country.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the brutal beheading of a senior Hindu priest and wounding two worshippers in northern Bangladesh.

In a statement, the terrorist group said that "caliphate soldiers" carried out the attack using "light weapons".

The 45-year-old priest, identified as Jogeswar Roy, was attacked with cleavers at his home on Sunday.

"The priest was preparing for morning prayers when they pounced on him and decapitated him on the veranda of his home inside the temple," BBC quoted a government official as saying.

The Hindus comprise about 10% of the Muslim-majority country's 160 million population.