A Hindu man was crushed to death by an SUV in Bangladesh belonging to a former Bangladesh Nationalist Party worker. 30-year-old Ripon Saha, a fuel station worker, tried to stop the vehicle from leaving the petrol pump without paying for the fuel, but the car allegedly ran over him before fleeing.
According to The Daily Star, the victim was working at Karim Filling Station in Goalanda Mor at the time of the incident.
"We will file a murder case. The worker stood in front of the car after they refused to pay for fuel, and they ran him over before fleeing," Rajbari Sadar Police chief Khondakar Ziaur Rahman told news portal bdnews24.com.
Police and eyewitnesses said that a black SUV took fuel worth Rs 3,710 from the filling station at around 4:30 am on Friday. After the car appeared to leave before paying, Saha stood in front of the car to stop him. However, the driver ran over him and fled, killing Saha on the spot.
Police later seized the vehicle and arrested its owner, Abul Hashem, alias Sujan, 55, and his driver, Kamal Hossain, 43. Hashem, a former treasurer of the Rajbari district Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and former president of the district Jubo Dal, is a contractor by profession, police said.
The incident is the latest in a series of attacks on Hindu minorities in the country. There are about 13.13 million Hindus in Bangladesh per the 2022 census, accounting for about 7.95 per cent of the population.
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, a human rights organisation against religious discrimination, has expressed grave concern over the escalating attacks on minority communities across the country. The forum alleged that since the date of the general elections is drawing near, communal violence is increasing to prevent minority voters from casting votes for candidates of their choice.
The Council said it has recorded 51 incidents of communal violence in December 2025 alone.
New Delhi has also criticised Muslim-majority Bangladesh over the treatment of minorities, particularly Hindus.
India highlighted a troubling tendency to downplay attacks on minorities by attributing them to personal rivalries or other unrelated factors, warning that such narratives only embolden the extremist elements across Bangladesh.
