Dhaka, Sep 26 (IANS): In yet another disturbing incident raising concerns over the safety of minorities across Bangladesh, the dead body of a Hindu man was found floating inside a drum near a sluice gate in the Begunbari area of Mymensingh district, local media reported.
The deceased has been identified as 50-year-old Niranjan Chandra Sutradhar, who ran a jointly owned jewellery shop in the Atharbari Building area of Mymensingh.
Police have yet to determine who killed Niranjan or the motive behind the crime, with no arrests made as of Friday, Bangladesh’s leading Bengali newspaper, The Daily Ittefaq, reported
According to Kotwali Model Police Station OC Muhammad Shibirul Islam, the victim bore sharp-weapon injury marks on his head and chest. Police believe Niranjan was killed before his body was put inside a drum and thrown into the water.
Police said a token issued by Mymensingh Hindu Cooperative Credit Union Limited was found in the trouser pocket of the body recovered from the drum. Contacting the organisation with the token helped police establish the deceased’s identity as Niranjan Chandra. His wife, Sumita Rani Sutradhar, and son, Joy Sutradhar, later identified the body.
“After receiving the token, the Mymensingh Hindu Cooperative Credit Union Limited was contacted. The people of the institution helped identify Niranjan after seeing the token. Later, his identity was confirmed by contacting the family,” Daily Ittefaq quoted Kotwali Model Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Ruhul Amin as saying.
Reports suggest that police recovered the body on Wednesday morning after locals spotted a floating drum in the water near the sluice gate in the Begunbari area and alerted authorities.
The latest incident highlighted a troubling surge in attacks on Hindu minority communities across Bangladesh, a trend that began during the former Muhammad Yunus-led interim government and has persisted under the current Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) administration.
Earlier this month, recalling the BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami alliance’s five-year rule from 2001 to 2006, Awami League alleged that the persecution of minority communities across the country during that period is now being witnessed again in 2026.
“Attacks on temples, homes being set on fire, land grabbing, brutal sexual violence against women, and countless Hindus being forced to leave Bangladesh. That picture is appearing before our eyes again today, in 2026,” it stated.
Citing the recent killing of retired Hindu teacher Ganapati Chakraborty and his entire family in Rangpur city, the party said that the ruling BNP government’s inaction following the incident reflects a broader pattern of persecution of religious minorities that has continued since the period of the previous Yunus-led interim government.
