Bangladesh is currently facing an unrest after student leader Osman Hadi was shot dead by assailants last month. (AP Photo/ Representational) A Hindu business owner, who was the acting editor of a newspaper, was shot dead in Bangladesh by unknown assailants on Monday in Jashore’s Manirampur district, in one of nearly half a dozen such incidents that have come to light following the unrest that began after student leader Sharif Osman Hadi was killed.
According to a report by Bangla-language daily Prothom Alo, Rana Pratap Bairagi, 45, was shot dead by miscreants in Kapalia Bazar around 5:45 pm, the fifth Hindu man to be killed in Bangladesh in recent times.
Who was Rana Pratap Bairagi?
Pratap, a resident of Arua village, was the son of Tushar Kanti Bairagi in neighbouring Keshabpur district.
He owned an ice-making factory in Kopaliya Bazar in Monirampur and was the acting editor of a newspaper called ‘Dainik BD Khabar’. The newspaper was published in Narail.
Police said that there are four cases registered against the deceased in two police stations. However, details of these cases were not known.
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How did the attack unfold?
The miscreants shot him in the head from close range and fled. He died on the spot, Prothom Alo said.
“Bairagi was shot three times in the head, and his throat was slit,” Monirampur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md. Rajiullah Khan was quoted as saying by the daily.
The reason for the murder or the identities of the murderers are not yet known.
Anti-minority violence in Bangladesh
The latest attack follows close on the heels of another 45-year-old Hindu man, Khokon Chandra Das, getting stabbed and then set on fire. That incident took place in Damudya Upazila area of Shariatpur district, Bangladesh, last Wednesday, according to local media reports.
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The first reported incident was that of mob lynching 25-year-old Dipu Chandra Das over allegations of blasphemy that were later revealed to be unfounded. That incident took place inside a factory in Mymensingh.
The other two incidents included Bajendra Biswas, a member of the Bangladesh Ansar, a paramilitary force under the Ministry of Home Affairs, who was killed inside the Sultana Sweaters Limited factory in Mehrabari. Biswas was on security duty and was shot dead. Eyewitness accounts hinted that the case could be one of accidental fire.
And a Hindu youth, Amrit Mondal, was allegedly lynched by a mob in the Hossaindanga area of Kalimohar Union in Bangladesh.
(With inputs from PTI)
