Two minority traders killed in Bangladesh within 24 hrs; New Year toll hits 3

Dhaka, Jan 5: A 40-year-old Hindu man who owned a grocery shop was murdered after being attacked with a sharp weapon by unidentified assailants in Bangladesh’s Narsingdi city, on Monday night.

The victim, identified as Moni Chakraborty, was attacked at Charsindhur Bazar in Palash upazila around 11 pm, Bdnews24 reported on Tuesday.

Palash Police Station officer-in-charge Shahed Al Mamun said Moni was the son of Madan Thakur, a resident of Sadharchar Union in Shibpur upazila.

Police and local residents said Moni was returning home after closing his shop when he was struck with a sharp, locally made weapon. He collapsed on the spot and died, the report said.

The killing occurred just hours after another Hindu man, a businessman and acting newspaper editor, was fatally shot by unidentified assailants in Jessore district of southern Bangladesh.

“We have received information that one Rana Pratap Bairagi was shot dead in the Keshabpur area of Jessore,” Bangladesh Puja Celebration Committee president Bashudeb Dhar said on Tuesday.

The 38-year-old Bairagi was a resident of Arua village in Keshabpur upazila of Jessore district in Khulna Division, Bangla-language daily Prothom Alo reported.

He owned an ice-making factory at Kopaliya Bazar in Monirampur and also served as the acting editor of Dainik BD Khabar, a newspaper published from Narail.

The incident occurred around 5.45 pm at Kopaliya Bazar, bdnews24 quoted Additional Superintendent of Police Abul Basar as saying.

Citing local residents and police, Prothom Alo reported that three assailants on a motorcycle called Bairagi out of the ice factory and took him to an alley near the Kapalia Clinic and Diagnostic Centre on the western side of Kopaliya Bazar. He was shot at close range, and the attackers fled. He died on the spot.

“Bairagi was shot three times in the head and his throat was slit,” Monirampur Police Station officer-in-charge Md Rajiullah Khan was quoted as saying. He added that the motive behind the killing was not yet known and an investigation was underway.

Police said Bairagi appeared to be a victim of an internal feud within the banned Purbo Banglar Communist Party, describing him as an “active member” of the group. They also said four cases were registered against him in two police stations, though details were not immediately available.

The killings come amid a series of violent incidents reported against members of minority communities in Bangladesh in recent weeks.

On January 3, Khokon Chandra Das (50) died after being brutally attacked, hacked and set on fire. On December 24, a Hindu man, Amrit Mondal, was lynched over alleged extortion in Pangsha upazila of Rajbari district. On December 18, Dipu Chandra Das (25) was lynched by a mob and his body set on fire over alleged blasphemy in Mymensingh city.

In another incident, unidentified persons set fire to the house of Qatari expatriate workers Shukh Shil and Anil Shil in the Raojan area on the outskirts of Chattogram on December 23. The residents escaped unharmed.

India has repeatedly expressed concern over attacks on minorities, particularly Hindus, in Bangladesh.

According to the 2022 census, Bangladesh is home to approximately 13.13 million Hindus, accounting for about 7.95 per cent of the country’s population.

PTI