Hindu newspaper editor shot in dead by unidentified men in Bangladesh

A Hindu businessman, who was also the acting editor of a newspaper, was fatally shot in the head by unidentified assailants on Monday in Jessore district in southern Bangladesh, officials said.

“We have received information that one Rana Pratap Bairagi was shot dead at the Keshabpur area of Jessore,” Bangladesh Puja Celebration Committee President Bashudeb Dhar said.

The 38-year-old deceased was a resident of Arua village in Keshabpur upazila of Jessore in Khulna Division, Bangla-language daily Prothom Alo reported.

The shooting marks the latest in a spate of violent incidents against minorities in the country, especially the Hindu community members. India has been expressing concerns over attacks on minorities, especially Hindus, in Bangladesh.

Bairagi, who owned an ice-making factory in Kopaliya Bazar in Monirampur, was also the acting editor of a newspaper called 'Dainik BD Khabar' published from Narail, according to the daily. The incident occurred around 5:45 pm at Kopaliya Bazaar on Monday, bdnews24 news portal quoted Additional Police Superintendent Abul Basar as saying.

Citing locals and the police, Prothom Alo said that three miscreants on a motorcycle called him from the ice factory and took him to the alley in front of Kapalia Clinic and Diagnostic Centre on the west side of Kopaliya Bazar. The miscreants then shot him in the head from close range and fled. He died on the spot. “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.

Khan also said that the reason for his murder is not known. An investigation was launched into the incident. Police said Bairagi “appeared to be a victim of an internal feud” of the banned Purbo Banglar Communist Party, describing him as an “active member” of the group. There are four cases registered against the deceased in two police stations, they said. However, details of these cases were not known. The shooting marks the latest in a spate of violent incidents against the Hindu community members. On January 3, Khokon Chandra Das (50) died after he was brutally attacked, hacked and set on fire. On December 24, a Hindu man, Amrit Mondal, was lynched over alleged extortion in Rajbari town's Pangsha upazila. On December 18, Dipu Chandra Das (25) was lynched by a mob and his body set on fire over alleged blasphemy in Mymensingh city.

Unidentified men set the house of Qatari expatriate workers Shukh Shil and Anil Shil on fire in the Raojan area on the outskirts of Chattogram on December 23, but the residents managed to escape unharmed. There has been a spate of violence targeting the minority community in the country in the last few weeks, and mob violence or clandestine attacks have emerged as a major crisis in Bangladesh's changed political landscape, according to political observers.

As of the 2022 census, approximately 13.13 million Hindus reside in Bangladesh, constituting about 7.95 per cent of the total population.