Amid election tensions in Bangladesh, a 23-year-old Hindu man, Chanchal Bhowmik, was burned alive inside his shop on Friday in Narsingdi, Bangladesh. Bhowmik was sleeping inside the shop when the attacker shut the shutters, poured petrol, and set the building on fire.
Narsingdi is just 50 kilometres away from the capital city, Dhaka.
Witnesses said that the attacker remained outside the shop as Chanchal was burning to death and then fled the scene.
Bhowmik was a car mechanic and worked at a car workshop in Khana Bari Masjid Market in the Police Lines area. Locals believe that the fire was premeditated arson intended to murder.
On Friday night, Bhowmik slept at the shop after finishing work as he usually did. Several unidentified people were seen around the shop right before the fire began.
The flames spread quickly and lasted for several hours as there were petrol and inflammable materials stored inside the shop.
Bhowmik was sleeping and died of suffocation and burn injuries.
Anti-Hindu Pogrom is going on in #Bangladesh.
— Hindu Voice (@HinduVoice_in) January 25, 2026
News coming in from #Narsinghdi district.
Islamists burnt alive a Hindu youth named Chanchal Bhowmik.
At night, Chanchal Bhowmik was working in a shop. Islamists closed the shop and put fire.
Chanchal Bhowmik was the only… pic.twitter.com/OoRSovqZc2
Sadar Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) ARM Al Mamun said, "The incident is being viewed with great seriousness. We quickly reached the spot after receiving the news and recovered the body. CCTV footage has been collected. Multiple police teams are working to identify the criminals.
CCTV footage recovered from the area shows that several people were seen in front of and around the shop before the fire was set.
"However, it could not be confirmed whether they had any connection to the incident," the police said
Citing the video, police said that they are trying to identify the person who appeared in front of the shop as the fire began.
India raised concerns earlier about the safety of the minority Hindu population in the country after there was a rising number of killings and lynching of Hindus.
About a week earlier, a Hindu sweetshop owner was beaten to death in Gazipur district Hindu autorickshaw driver was also stabbed to death in Feni district.
