Dhaka: A 25-year-old Hindu youth, Chanchal Bhowmik, was tragically burned to death in Narsingdi, Bangladesh, on Friday night.
He was sleeping in a garage when the fire broke out, and CCTV footage suggests foul play. The Narsingdi police superintendent (SP), Abdullah Al Faruque, informed ANI over the phone that while the fire started inside the shop, CCTV footage has revealed a person of interest moving around the area.
"We have collected footage from the CCTV cameras and observed that there is a scene showing a person moving around. We are investigating whether the fire was caused by some external factor or by an electrical fault", SP said.
The police superintendent also mentioned that the fire started inside the shop, and that the fire service broke the shutter to rescue him, although his body was charred to death.
"We are still investigating everything, and so far, no one has been arrested", he added.
Authorities are currently determining if the blaze was an electrical accident or an "external factor." No arrests have been made as of Sunday.
Situation In Bangladesh
Bangladesh continues to grapple with a volatile security landscape as it approaches the national elections scheduled for February 12, 2026. Amidst a ban on the Awami League and rising communal tensions, the safety of religious minorities has become a focal point of international concern.
Reports from human rights organisations and government agencies indicate a sharp rise in targeted violence against minorities since the interim government, led by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, took power in August 2024.
The internal instability has triggered sharp reactions from the exiled leadership. in her first address to a gathering in India since she came to the country in the wake of violent protests in August 2024, former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina blasted the Interim Government's Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that the country "has plunged into an age of terror" and "there is a treacherous plot to barter away the territory and resources of Bangladesh to foreign interests".
She called on people of the country to "overthrow the Yunus regime". Bangladesh is slated to go for national elections on February 12, and the activities of Sheikh Hasina's party, Awami League have been banned. Its registration has been suspended.
"Bangladesh stands today at the edge of an abyss, a nation battered and bleeding, navigating one of the most perilous chapters in its history. The homeland won through the supreme Liberation War under the leadership of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is now ravaged by the monstrous onslaught of extremist communal forces and foreign perpetrators. Our once serene and fertile land has been reduced to a wounded, blood-soaked landscape. In truth, the entire country has become a vast prison, an execution ground, a valley of death," she said in a pre-recorded audio message played out at an event in the national capital.
In January, a large crowd gathered at Parliament Square in London on Wednesday in a demonstration calling for international attention against the continued torture, persecution and killing of minorities in Bangladesh, a statement by the Bangladesh Hindu Association and Bengali Hindu Adarsh Sangha said.
Organised by the Bangladesh Hindu Association (BHA) and supported by INSIGHT UK and the Bengali Hindu Adarsh Sangha (BHAS), this British Hindu diaspora event drew an audience of over 500 participants, including students, professionals, parents with children, elderly activists, and interfaith leaders.
As the date of the 13th National Parliamentary Election in Bangladesh draws nearer, communal violence is increasing at an alarming rate. In December alone, at least 51 incidents of violence have been reported till now.
These included 10 murders, 10 cases of theft and robbery, 23 incidents involving the occupation of homes, business establishments, temples and land, looting and arson, four cases of arrest and torture on false allegations of religious defamation and being "agents of RAW", one attempted rape, and three incidents of physical assault, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council said in a statement.
India's Ministry of External Affairs had expressed serious concern over the killing of a Hindu youth in Bangladesh, linking the issue to the wider question of minority safety and law and order in the country.
The MEA noted that independent assessments have documented over 2,900 incidents of violence against minorities during the tenure of Bangladesh's interim government led by Muhammad Yunus, including cases of killings, arson and land grabbing.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
