A 28-year-old Hindu man was found murdered in Bangladesh’s Moulvibazar district on Wednesday, just a day before the country heads to the polls in a landmark national election.
The victim, identified as Ratan Sahuakar, was a tea garden worker in the Champa area. According to reports, his body was discovered with his hands and legs tied. He had sustained multiple deep injuries, and blood was reportedly still oozing from the wounds when the body was recovered.
Co-workers of Sahuakar have alleged foul play and called for a proper investigation into the incident.
The killing is the latest in a series of targeted attacks against minorities, especially members of the Hindu community, amid ongoing unrest and political tensions following the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Earlier this week, another Hindu man was killed in a separate incident. On Monday night, 62-year-old Susen Chandra Sarkar, a rice trader, was allegedly hacked to death inside his shop in Mymensingh at around 11 pm, according to local media reports.
The incidents come as Bangladesh holds national elections marking its return to democratic rule nearly two years after a Gen Z-led uprising led to Hasina’s removal from office.
Hindus constitute a minority in Bangladesh, numbering approximately 13.1 million people — about 8 percent of the country’s population of 170 million. Muslims make up roughly 91 percent of the population.
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, an umbrella body representing minority communities, says it has documented more than 2,000 incidents of communal violence since the mass uprising in August 2024 that led to Hasina’s ouster.
According to the group, the incidents include at least 61 killings, 28 cases of violence against women — including rape and gang rape — and 95 attacks on places of worship involving vandalism, looting, and arson. The organisation has also accused the Yunus-led administration of routinely dismissing or downplaying reports of such violence.
