Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Jan 1: With no end in sight of the minority bashing in the crisis-ridden Bangladesh, another Hindu man, fourth in the series of known cases, was attacked and set ablaze by a violent group in Shariatpur district in Bangladesh.
The victim, identified as 50-year old businessman Khokon Chandra Das, however, managed to escape death by jumping into a pond on the wayside, the local media reported. The incident took place late on Wednesday night, the police said on Thursday. Khokon Das was fourth victim of minority bashing in Bangladesh in the recent days after the gruesome killings of Dipu Chandra Das and Brajendra Biswas.
According to media reports, petrol was poured on Khokon Das and was set on fire near Keurbhanga Bazar in Kaneshwar Union, Damudya at around 9:30 PM on Wednesday. He was rushed to Dhaka for advanced treatment where his condition was reported to be improving.
A resident of Tilai village in Ward No. 3 of Koneshwar Union, Khokon Das runs a medicine and mobile banking business in Keurbhanga Bazar. Das was returning home in a CNG-powered autorickshaw after closing his shop on Wednesday night, having collected the day’s sales proceeds. Miscreants stopped the autorickshaw near Keurbhanga Bazar on the Damudya-Shariatpur road and allegedly assaulted him. He was attacked with sharp weapons and sustained injuries after which the miscreants poured petrol on his head and set him afire.
Das managed to escape from their grip and jumped into a pond on the side of the road. The attackers fled the scene after locals raised an alarm. The victim was rescued and taken to Shariatpur Sadar Hospital around 10 PM, from where he was sent to Dhaka for better treatment.
“The person who was brought to the emergency department at night has injury marks on various parts of his body. He has been sent to Dhaka for advanced treatment as one of the injuries to his stomach is serious. He also has burn marks on his face, back of his head and hands,” Dr Nazrul Islam, a doctor at the emergency department of Shariatpur Sadar Hospital, said.
According to Seema Das, the wife of injured Khokon Chandra Das, the attackers tried to kill her husband as he had recognised two people from the group of attackers. “My husband closes the shop every night and returns home with the money from the day’s sales. Terrorists attacked him on Wednesday night. He recognized two of the attackers, which is why they tried to hack him to death, poured gasoline on his head and face and set him on fire. We have no enemies in the area. We have no dispute with anyone on any issue. We don’t understand why the terrorists suddenly targeted my husband and attacked him,” the victim’s wife said.
Police are investigating the case and have identified two of the attackers, with efforts to arrest them ongoing. “We went to the scene after receiving information about a terrorist attack on a businessman in Keurbhanga Bazar. The names of two of the attackers have been identified. Efforts are underway to arrest them. Efforts are being made to identify who else is involved in the incident,” Damudya Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mohammad Rabiul Haque said.
This marks the fourth attack on a Hindu in Bangladesh in two weeks. On December 24, another Hindu youth, identified as 29-year-old Amrit Mondal, was allegedly lynched by a mob in the Hossaindanga area of Kalimohar Union in Bangladesh. The Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladesh condemned the killing but claimed there was not a communal angle to the violent situation stemmed from “extortion and criminal activities”.
Earlier on December 18, a 25-year-old Hindu youth, Dipu Chandra Das, was brutally killed in a mob lynching incident over false blasphemy accusations by a Muslim co-worker at his factory in Bhaluka Upazila of Mymensingh. The mob killed Das and then hung his body from a tree before setting it on fire.
The fresh killings of members of the minority Hindu community comes in the wake of unrest following activist Osman Hadi last month. Bangladesh is in the middle of a political crisis, ever since Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister and fled the country after students-led protests in July-August 2024.