Assailants hack Hindu man to death in Bangladesh, 2nd such murder in 24 hours

The minority Hindu community in Bangladesh is reeling under a wave of targeted violence, with two more fatalities reported in less than 24 hours. On Monday night, Sarat Mani Chakraborty (40), a grocery store owner in Narsingdi district, was brutally attacked with sharp weapons at Charsindur Bazar in Palash Upazila. Assailants reportedly hacked him inside his shop around 10 pm, leading to his death on the way to the hospital. A former expatriate worker in South Korea, Sarat was known as a peaceful resident and had recently expressed his fears about the "valley of death" his homeland had become in a Facebook post.

Earlier that same evening, 45-year-old Rana Pratap Bairagi was assassinated in Jashore’s Monirampur. Rana, who owned an ice factory and served as the acting editor of the newspaper 'Dainik BD Khobor', was lured into an alley by three motorcycle-borne men and shot three times in the head at point-blank range. Police recovered seven bullet casings from the spot and noted that his throat had also been slit. The brazen nature of the attack in a public marketplace at 5:45 pm has triggered widespread panic in the region.

While the police have launched investigations into both incidents, local community leaders allege that these are not isolated criminal acts but part of a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing. In Sarat’s case, reports suggest that extremists had demanded 'jizya' (tax for non-Muslims) from him just days before his murder. Regarding Rana Pratap, police pointed toward potential internal feuds or business disputes, though his colleagues maintain that his identity and professional role made him a high-profile target.