A fresh incident of violence against a member of Bangladesh’s Hindu community was reported on Monday night when a 40-year-old grocery shop owner was brutally killed by unidentified assailants in Narsingdi district, according to local media.
The victim, identified as Moni Chakraborty, was attacked with a sharp, locally made weapon at Charsindhur Bazar in Palash upazila around 11 pm. The killing came just hours after another Hindu businessman, who also served as the acting editor of a newspaper, was shot dead in Jessore district earlier the same day.
Palash Police Station officer-in-charge Shahed Al Mamun said Chakraborty was the son of Madan Thakur of Sadharchar Union in Shibpur upazila. He had been running a grocery shop at Charsindhur Bazar for many years and was the third Hindu businessman to be killed in recent weeks.
Police and local residents said Chakraborty was returning home after closing his shop when unidentified attackers struck him. He collapsed at the spot, after which locals rushed him to the Palash Upazila Health Complex, where doctors declared him dead.
Police reached the scene soon after receiving the information and launched an investigation to identify and arrest those responsible, the OC said. The body was later sent to the Narsingdi Sadar Hospital morgue for post-mortem examination.
The killing is the latest in a series of violent incidents targeting members of the Hindu community in Bangladesh.
Earlier on Monday, 38-year-old Rana Pratap Bairagi, a resident of Arua village in Keshabpur upazila of Jessore district in Khulna Division, was shot dead in the head by unidentified assailants at Kapalia Bazaar around 5:45 pm.
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On January 3, Khokon Chandra Das (50) died after being brutally attacked, hacked and set on fire. On December 24, another 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.
