B'desh: Hindu man dies after jumping into canal while fleeing mob
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Dhaka: Amid a continuing surge in violence against minorities in Bangladesh, a 25-year-old Hindu man died after jumping into a canal while attempting to escape a mob that accused him of robbery in Mohadevpur upazila of Naogaon district, local media reported.
The victim, identified as Mithun Sarkar, lost his life in the incident, which occurred on Tuesday afternoon in the Chakgori area of the upazila.
According to Bangladesh’s Bengali daily Manobkantha, citing local residents and police sources, Mithun was chased by a local mob on suspicion of robbery. In a desperate attempt to save himself, he jumped into a nearby deep canal, where a strong current swept him away.
Following information about the incident, teams from Mohadevpur Police Station, the Fire Service, and Civil Defence rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation. After several hours of search, the Fire Service diving team recovered Mithun’s body from the canal, but he was already dead.
Confirming the incident, Mohadevpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Shahidul Islam said that preliminary information suggested the young man had jumped into the canal while being chased on allegations of robbery. He added that the body was recovered with the assistance of the fire service and that the matter is being investigated thoroughly, with further legal action to follow after the autopsy.
This incident marks the seventh case of violence against Hindus in the past 19 days and the third such incident this week, underscoring a worrying escalation in attacks targeting Hindu communities across Bangladesh.
On Monday, two Hindu men were killed in separate incidents within a span of 24 hours. In the first case, 40-year-old Sarat Chakraborty Mani was fatally attacked with sharp weapons in Narsingdi district, near Dhaka, allegedly by an extremist armed religious group. In the second incident, 38-year-old Hindu businessman Rana Pratap Bairagi was shot dead in public in Monirampur Upazila of Jashore district.
Earlier, on Saturday, another Hindu man, Khokon Chandra Das, died after being brutally assaulted by a mob of miscreants in Damudya Upazila of Shariatpur district.
Last week, 40-year-old Bajendra Biswas was shot dead by a colleague in Bhaluka Upazila of Mymensingh district.
On December 24, Bangladeshi media reported the killing of 29-year-old Hindu youth Amrit Mondal, who was allegedly lynched by a mob in the Hossaindanga area of Kalimohar Union.
Additionally, on December 18, a 25-year-old Hindu youth, Dipu Chandra Das, was brutally killed in a mob lynching incident following false blasphemy accusations levelled by a Muslim co-worker at his factory in Bhaluka Upazila of Mymensingh. After killing him, the mob reportedly hung his body from a tree and set it on fire.
Bangladesh has been witnessing a sharp rise in violence against minorities, including Hindus, under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, triggering widespread outrage among citizens and drawing condemnation from several international human rights organisations.
With IANS inputs