Dhaka: A series of violent incidents involving members of Bangladesh’s Hindu minority has drawn renewed scrutiny of law and order in the country, following the killing of a factory owner and acting newspaper editor in the southwest and the alleged gang rape of a Hindu widow in central districts, alongside several mob attacks reported since mid-December.
On Monday evening, Rana Pratap, 45, was shot dead in the Kopalia Bazar area of Manirampur sub-district in Jashore around 6 pm, police and local officials said. Pratap, who owned an ice factory and served as acting editor of the daily BD Khobor published from Narail, was called out of his workplace by a group of men, led into an alley and shot in the head. His throat was also slit, according to police.
Akhtar Faruk Mintu, chairman of the Manoharpur Union Parishad, said Pratap, the son of a schoolteacher from Arua village in neighbouring Keshabpur, had been running the ice factory for two years. A local resident, Ripon Hossain, said the attackers arrived on a motorcycle, argued with Pratap and fired several rounds before fleeing. Seven bullet casings were recovered from the spot.
Manirampur Police Station officer in charge Md Raziullah Khan said Pratap was shot three times in the head. “The body has been recovered and sent for autopsy. We are investigating who was involved,” he said. Local sources and a local leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, alleged
Pratap had past criminal cases and links to an extremist group. The newspaper’s news editor, Abul Kashem, said Pratap had earlier faced cases but was acquitted, adding, “I cannot say what led to this murder.”
The killing followed reports of the gang rape of a 40-year-old Hindu widow in Kaliganj, Jhenaidah district, on Saturday. In her complaint, the woman said two men, Shahin and Hasan, raped her, tied her to a tree, cut off her hair, recorded the assault and circulated the video online after she refused to pay 50,000 taka. She was later rescued and admitted to Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital. Additional Superintendent of Police Billal Hossain said the complaint had been recorded and legal action would follow.
These incidents have prompted condemnation of the interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus. India has expressed concern over what it described as continuing hostility toward minorities, while the Bangladesh government has said it remains committed to their protection.