Just three days before the elections, a 62-year-old Hindu trader was hacked to death by unidentified assailants inside his shop in Trishal upazila of Mymensingh district in Bangladesh, according to local media reports on Tuesday. The incident happened on Monday night at the Bogar Bazar intersection, Trishal Police Station officer-in-charge Muhammad Firoz Hossain told bdnews24.com.
The victim was identified as Susen Chandra Sarkar, the owner of Bhai Bhai Enterprise and a resident of Southkanda village.
Family found him lying in a pool of blood
Hossain said Sarkar was attacked with a sharp weapon inside his shop. The assailants allegedly left his body inside, locked the shutters, and fled after looting several hundred thousand taka in cash.
Family members, who had been searching for him, opened the shop later and found Sarkar lying in a pool of blood. He was rushed to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
"We have been running this rice business for a long time and had no known disputes with anyone. The criminals brutally murdered my father and looted the shop," said the victim's son, Sujan Sarkar, who demanded swift identification and exemplary punishment for those responsible.
Atrocities against minorities in Bangladesh
The killing is the latest in a series of violent incidents affecting Bangladesh's minority Hindu community. Tensions have reportedly risen following the killing of radical youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi in December.
Last month, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council claimed that communal violence had increased sharply as the country heads toward parliamentary elections. The organisation said it documented 51 incidents of communal violence in December 2025 alone.
Bangladesh is scheduled to hold general elections on February 12, the first since former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted amid nationwide protests in August 2024.
According to the 2022 census, Bangladesh's Hindu population stands at around 13.13 million, comprising approximately 7.95 per cent of the country's total population.
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