In yet another case of mob violence against a Hindu in Bangladesh, a 40-year-old businessman narrowly escaped death after he was beaten, stabbed and set on fire by a group of attackers. The victim, identified as Khokan Chandra, survived by jumping into a pond, though he sustained severe burn injuries.
According to reports, Khokan was attacked around 9 pm on New Year’s Eve while returning home after closing his medical shop in Keurbhanga Bazar. He was intercepted by a group of people near the Tiloi area and was then brutally assaulted.
The attackers allegedly stabbed Khokan multiple times with sharp weapons before dousing him with petrol and setting him ablaze. Despite the assault, he managed to escape by leaping into a nearby pond. Locals later rescued him and rushed him to Shariatpur Sadar Hospital, where doctors said his condition remains critical.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the motive behind the attack, nor have they identified those responsible.
The incident has intensified fear among Bangladesh’s Hindu minority, coming amid a spate of violent attacks following the killing of anti-India youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi. Protests over Hadi’s death have taken a strong anti-India turn, with allegations that the accused fled to India.
The latest attack occurred just a day after another Hindu man, Bajendra Biswas, was shot dead while on security duty at a garment factory in Mymensingh. According to local reports, the accused, Noman Mia, taunted Biswas before shooting him dead.
Both men were members of the Ansar Bahini, a paramilitary auxiliary force under Bangladesh’s Home Ministry, tasked with community policing. They were deployed at a factory of Sultana Sweaters Limited when the incident occurred.
These cases follow the recent lynching of Amrit Mondal over alleged extortion and the killing of factory worker Dipu Chandra Das over blasphemy allegations—incidents that have drawn international condemnation. India has expressed serious concern over what it described as “unremitting hostility” toward minorities in Bangladesh.
