- A Hindu businessman was murdered in Bangladesh on February 9, before elections
- The killing occurred in Mymensingh district, where another Hindu man was also attacked
- The victim, Sushen Chandra Sarkar was a 62-year-old rice trader from Dakshinkanda village
A Hindu businessman was brutally murdered by unknown assailants in Bangladesh on the night of February 9, three days before the South Asian country votes for its national parliamentary elections.
The incident took place in the Mymensingh district of Bangladesh, where another Hindu man, Dipu Chandra Das, was also lynched and burnt.
The victim, 62-year-old Sushen Chandra Sarkar, was a rice trader and a resident of Dakshinkanda village. He owned "Bhai Bhai Enterprise" at the intersection of the Bogar Bazar in the sub-district.
Read | Hindu Man Khokon Das Dies After Being Beaten, Set On Fire In Bangladesh
According to the police, the murder happened at 11 pm at the intersection of the market. Unknown assailants allegedly hacked Sarkar with a sharp weapon, left him inside the shop and closed the shutters. They also stole lakhs of rupees from the shop after murdering Sarkar.
Sarkar's family found him covered in blood inside the shop while searching for him, the police said. He was rushed to the Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Sujan Sarkar, the victim's son, said that the murderers stole money from the shop after killing his father. "We have had a rice business for a long time. No one had any enmity with us. The criminals stole several hundred thousand taka from the store after they brutally killed my father", he said.
Sujan said that the body is in the hospital morgue for postmortem examination and legal action is in process and demanded that his father's killers should be identified soon and punished.
Violence Against Hindus In Bangladesh
With Bangladesh heading into national elections on Thursday, mounting international concern is focusing on the deteriorating condition of the country's Hindu minority under the interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus.
Human rights advocates warned that persistent violence, intimidation, and forced displacement of Hindus have intensified since the political transition of August 2024, raising serious questions about minority safety and democratic credibility ahead of the polls.
Read | Hindu Garage Worker Burnt Alive By Unknown Men While Sleeping In Bangladesh
Bangladesh has witnessed thousands of attacks on minorities since August 2024, including murders, arson, temple desecration, and land seizures. Blasphemy accusations, often unsubstantiated, have increasingly been used to incite mobs, justify arrests, and destroy Hindu homes and businesses.
International monitoring bodies, including the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, have reported a steady rise in intimidation and violence against Hindu communities throughout 2025.
India On Hindus Attacked In Bangladesh
India called on Bangladesh to firmly deal with communal incidents in the country on Friday. "We continue to witness a disturbing pattern of recurring attacks on minorities as well as their homes and businesses by extremists," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
Read | Hindu Man Killed With Shovel While Trying To Save Employee In Bangladesh
New Delhi highlighted the "troubling tendency" of Bangladesh to attribute such violence to personal rivalries, political differences, or extraneous reasons. Flagging this, Jaiswal said that "such disregard only emboldens the perpetrators" and further causes fear and insecurity among minorities.
"We have repeatedly addressed this issue in earlier briefings and continue to see a disturbing pattern of recurring attacks on minorities, their homes, and businesses by extremists in Bangladesh," Jaiswal said.
