Hindu businessmen killed in Bangladesh: Sushant Chandra Sarkar hacked to death inside shop in Mymensingh

A 62-year-old Hindu businessman was hacked to death in his shop in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh district late on Monday night. The incident, which occurred two days before the country’s parliamentary elections, raised concerns about the safety of ethnic minorities amid a recent surge in violence.The victim, identified as Susen Chandra Sarkar, owns a rice business called Bhai Bhai Enterprise at Bogar Bazar intersection in Trishal upazila and is a resident of Southkanda village. Muhammad Firoz Hossain, in-charge of Trishal police station, said the attack took place around 11 pm.

According to police, unidentified assailants attacked Sarkar with a sharp weapon inside his shop, left him there, then pulled down the blinds before running away. Family members who were searching for him later opened the store and found him lying in a pool of blood. He was rushed to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead, news agency PTI reported quoting BD News. Sarkar’s son Sujan Sarkar said the family had no known enmity with anyone and claimed the attackers also robbed the store after killing his father.“We have been in the rice business for a long time. No one has any enmity against us. Criminals stole lakhs of taka from the shop after brutally killing my father,” he said. His son further demanded that those responsible for the act be quickly identified and punished, BD News reported. The police said they rushed to the scene after receiving the notification, sent the body to the hospital morgue for autopsy, and initiated legal proceedings. No arrests have been reported so far.The killings come amid growing concerns about violence affecting members of Bangladesh’s Hindu minority as the country is due to hold parliamentary elections on February 12. This is the first poll since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stepped down following mass protests in August 2024.The killing of Susen Chandra Sarkar is part of a recent spate of violence involving members of the Hindu community across Bangladesh. Several Hindus have been killed in attacks in different areas over the past few months.Last month, a 25-year-old Hindu man was burnt to death while sleeping in his garage in Narsingdi. Police said the circumstances were suspicious and CCTV footage showing activity near the scene was being examined to determine whether the fire was accidental or intentional. So far, no arrests have been reported in the case.In another incident reported last month, a Hindu petrol pump worker in Rajbari area was allegedly run over and killed by a customer who was trying to escape without paying for fuel. Police arrested the owner and driver of the vehicle and said the case was still under investigation.Minority rights groups say the frequency of such attacks has increased in recent months. The Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Unity Council claimed that communal violence tends to rise before elections, claiming that it recorded 51 incidents in December 2025 alone, including killings, assaults, arson and property-related crimes.According to the 2022 census, Hindus constitute about 8% of Bangladesh’s population. Authorities said they were investigating the latest cases and insisted not all incidents were communally motivated.