Dhaka: A Hindu man was crushed to death in Bangladesh after he tried to prevent a vehicle from leaving a petrol pump without paying for fuel, police said. The incident on Friday in Rajbari district is the latest in a string of attacks targeting Hindus in the country.
The victim, identified as 30-year-old Ripon Saha, was working at Karim Filling Station in Goalanda Mor at the time, according to The Daily Star, which quoted police officials. Rajbari Sadar Police chief Khondakar Ziaur Rahman told news portal bdnews24.com, “We will file a murder case. The worker stood in front of the car after they refused to pay for fuel, and they ran him over before fleeing.”
According to police and eyewitnesses, a black SUV arrived at the filling station around 4:30 am on Friday and took fuel worth about Tk 5,000 (approx INR 3,710). When the driver attempted to leave without paying, Saha tried to block the vehicle. The car allegedly ran him over and sped away, killing him on the spot. Police later seized the vehicle and arrested its owner, Abul Hashem alias Sujan (55), and his driver Kamal Hossain (43). Hashem, a contractor by profession, is a former treasurer of Rajbari district Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and former president of the district Jubo Dal, police said.
The incident comes amid rising communal violence in Bangladesh. According to the 2022 census, the Hindu population in the country is approximately 13.13 million, accounting for about 7.95% of the total population. Earlier this month, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) alleged that as the date of the general elections draws nearer, communal attacks have been increasing at an alarming rate. Parliamentary polls are scheduled for February 12, and the forum claimed the violence is aimed at preventing minority voters from casting their votes freely.
The BHBCUC recorded 51 incidents of communal violence in December 2025 alone. Among these, a 42-year-old jeweller, Prantosh Sarkar, was shot dead in Narshingdi on December 2. On December 18, a 25-year-old garment factory worker, Dipu Chandra Das, was lynched by a mob in Mymensingh over alleged blasphemy, and his body was set on fire. Another Hindu man, Amrit Mondal, was lynched over alleged extortion in Rajbari’s Pangsha upazila on December 24.
Khokon Chandra Das (50) was brutally attacked, hacked, and set on fire while returning home after closing his shop on the night of December 31 and died in hospital three days later. A 40-year-old grocery shop owner, Moni Chakraborty, was killed by unidentified attackers with a sharp weapon on January 5 at Charsindhur Bazar in Palash Upazila. On the same day, Rana Pratap Bairagi (38), an ice-making factory owner and acting editor of Dainik BD Khabar published from Narail, was fatally shot in the head in Jessore district.
On January 6, Mithun Sarkar (25) died after jumping into a canal to escape a mob that accused him of theft in Naogaon district. Earlier, on December 7, Liberation War veteran and retired primary school headmaster Jogesh Chandra Roy (70) and his wife Shubarna Roy were found murdered in their home in Taraganj, Rangpur, with blood-stained bodies on the kitchen floor.
These incidents highlight a growing pattern of targeted attacks against Hindus in Bangladesh as the country approaches its general elections.
With PTI inputs