Babul Aktar, a top anti-terrorism police officer in Bangladesh, lost his wife after she was shot and stabbed to death in an apparent revenge attack by militants on Sunday.

The police superintendent was known to be battling Islamic militants, which appears to be the motive behind his wife's murder. The incident took place when machete-wielding assailants attacked the area. A Christian selling food and small household goods was also killed in the attack.

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The wife, identified as 33-year-old Mahmuda Aktar, was dropping off her son onto his school bus, not far from their home in the southeastern city of Chittagong, when three people riding a motorcycle reportedly killed her by stabbing and shooting her.

Deputy police commissioner Humayan Kabir said in a statement that Mahmuda was first stabbed before being shot in the head thrice.

Chittagong Police Commissioner Iqbal Bahar added that the attack seemed to be premeditated. The child was left unscathed but the other person, identified as 60-year-old Sunil Gomes, was hacked to death inside his shop in the northern district of NAtore.

Officials believe the attacks to be the work of Islamist militants in the area who have killed at least 30 people since February of last year. Most of the victims are from religious minorities, liberal bloggers, and academics.

Interior Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said in a statement that Babul has played an efficient role in cracking down on militants. Khan continued, "They might have killed his wife because they failed to get him."

Just recently, Babul had been transferred to Dhaka, where he busted several hideouts of militants, specifically from the organization Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen. They also arrested one of the top leaders of the terrorist organization, who later died in a grenade blast during a police raid in October.

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