Dhaka: Japan has decided to temporarily withdraw some 35-40 volunteers, mostly working in rural areas, as they want to take more time to get back to work, said a diplomatic source on Tuesday.

There are some 74 volunteers in Gazipur, Rajshahi, Tangail, Dinajpur, Barishal, Rangpur, Chittagong, Comilla and Dhaka and over 50 percent of the volunteers are going back to Japan for three-four weeks, said the source wishing not to be named.

It could not be confirmed how many of them have already left Bangladesh. The volunteers, however, will return to Bangladesh after meeting their family and friends back in Japan.

Japan did the same thing in the past during the political violence in January, February and March.

Earlier on 3 October, Japanese national Hoshi Kunio was gunned down at Kaunia in Rangpur. Italian citizen Cesare Tavella was also killed in Gulshan diplomatic zone in the city before the killing of the Japanese national.

As of 30 April, 2014, JICA has dispatched 1212 volunteers to Bangladesh since 1973. At present 74 volunteers are working in different organizations throughout Bangladesh in various sectors, including healthcare, education, rural development, IT, sports and environment, according to JICA.