A 62-year-old Hindu trader was hacked to death inside his shop in Bangladesh’s Mymensingh district late on Monday night. The incident comes just two days before the country’s parliamentary elections and raises concerns over the safety of minorities amid a recent spike in violence.The victim, identified as Susen Chandra Sarkar, owned a rice business named Bhai Bhai Enterprise at the Bogar Bazar intersection in Trishal upazila and was a resident of Southkanda village. The attack took place around 11 pm, Trishal Police Station officer-in-charge Muhammad Firoz Hossain said. According to police, unknown assailants hacked Sarkar with a sharp weapon inside his shop, left him there and pulled down the shutters before fleeing. Family members, who were searching for him, later opened the shop 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, citing BD news. Sarkar’s son Sujan Sarkar said that the family had no known enmity with anyone and alleged that the attackers also robbed the shop after killing his father. “We have had a rice business for a long time. No one had any enmity with us. The criminals stole several hundred thousand taka from the store after they brutally killed my father,” he said. His son further demanded that those responsible for this act be identified quickly and given exemplary punishment, according to BD news. Police said that they visited the spot after being informed, sent the body to the hospital morgue for post-mortem examination and initiated legal proceedings. No arrests have been reported so far.The killing comes amid growing concern over violence affecting members of Bangladesh’s Hindu minority as the country heads towards parliamentary elections scheduled for February 12. The polls are first since the ouster of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina following mass protests in August 2024.The killing of Susen Chandra Sarkar is part of a series of recent violent incidents involving members of the Hindu community across Bangladesh. In the past few months, several Hindus have been killed in separate attacks in different districts.Last month, a 25-year-old Hindu man was burnt to death in Narsingdi while he was asleep inside a garage. Police said that the circumstances were suspicious and that CCTV footage showing movement near the site was being examined to determine whether the fire was accidental or caused deliberately. No arrests have been reported in the case so far.In another incident reported last month, a Hindu petrol pump worker in Rajbari district died after allegedly being run over by a customer who attempted to flee without paying for fuel. Police arrested the vehicle owner and the driver, while stating that the communal angle of the case was still under investigation.Minority rights organizations have said the frequency of such attacks has increased in recent months. The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council has alleged that communal violence tends to rise ahead of elections, claiming it recorded 51 incidents in December 2025 alone, including killings, assaults, arson and property-related crimes.According to the 2022 census, Hindus make up about eight per cent of Bangladesh’s population. Authorities have said investigations are under way in the recent case and maintain that not all incidents are communally motivated.
