Who was Rana Pratap Bairagi, Hindu businessman and journalist shot dead in Bangladesh?

Bangladesh is rocked by another Hindu killing. This time, a 38-year-old Hindu ice factory owner and journalist, Rana Pratap Bairagi, was fatally shot by unknown assailants in public in Monirampur upazila of Jashore, according to police. Bdnews24 quoted Monirampur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Rajiullah Khan, “Bairagi was shot three times in the head, and his throat was slit."

The incident occurred around 5:45 pm at Kapalia Bazar in the Upazila on Monday evening (January 5), reported Bangla-language daily Prothom Alo.  

Police believe the killing might have stemmed from a dispute related to business, and it is not clear yet whether there was a communal angle to the murder. This incident comes amid rising scrutiny of Bangladesh’s deteriorating law and order and the safety of Hindus under the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus. The Muslim-majority country has witnessed a series of targeted crimes against the Hindu community in recent days. Bairagi’s killing is one of nearly half a dozen such incidents that have come to light.  

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We take a closer look:

Who was Rana Pratap Bairagi, killed in a targeted Jashore assault?

Thirty-eight-year-old, Rana Pratap Bairagi, was a resident of Aruna village in Keshabpur Upazila of Jessore in Khulna Division. He was the son of Tushar Kanti Bairagi, a schoolteacher, reports Times of India. Bairagi owned an ice manufacturing factory in Kapalia Bazar, Monirampur, according to Daily Prothom Alo.

Besides his business, he was also the acting editor of a Narail-based newspaper, Dainik BD Khobor, Keshabpur Press Club President Ashrafuzzaman Khan told The Daily Star. Police said the deceased businessman and journalist had one case registered against him at Abhaynagar police station and three at Keshabpur police station, adding that the details of these cases were not known.

How did the attack against Hindu journalist unfold?

On Monday (January 5), the incident occurred when he was at his ice factory in Kopalia market, Monirampur upazila, according to police and local residents. Three unidentified men arrived on a motorcycle around 5:45 pm. They called Bairagi out and took him to an alley on the western side of the market, in front of Kopalia Clinic and Diagnostic Centre.

The Daily Star reports, citing a witness, “After a brief altercation, they fired several shots at him, killing him on the spot.” Monoharpur union parishad chairman Akhtar Faruk said that they shot Bairagi at close range in the head and fled. He died at the spot, the report noted.  

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Soon after receiving information about the shooting, police from Monirampur police station rushed to the spot. There was a sense of panic and fear across the Kopalia market and its surrounding areas. Monirampur police station’s officer-in-charge (OC) Md Raziullah Khan confirmed the death of 38-year-old journalist, saying, “Rana was shot three times in the head, and his throat was slit,” TOI reported.

Khan added, “The body has been recovered, and preparations are underway to send it to the morgue of Jashore 250-bed General Hospital for post-mortem. We are investigating the perpetrators."

Police have recovered seven bullet casings from the spot, the media publication report noted. According to police, the circumstances surrounding the killing of Bairagi are yet to be unravelled.  

Several media reports suggest that the police are also suspecting a business-related dispute, which would have led to the murder of the ice factory owner and journalist in Jashore.    

How are Hindu killings piling up in Bangladesh?

The killing of Bairagi is the latest in a spate of violent incidents against the Hindu minority in a Muslim-majority country like Bangladesh. TOI reports that another Hindu grocery shop owner, Sarat Chakroborty Mani, was killed in Narsingdi on Monday night (January 5), triggering serious concerns over the deteriorating law and order situation in the nation.

Bangladesh news channel Blitz reported that Mani was attacked while running his shop. He was attacked with sharp weapons by unidentified men, according to eyewitnesses. Mani was rushed to the hospital; however, he died on the way.

Khokon Chandra Das, 50, a Hindu businessman, died after he was brutally attacked, hacked and set on fire on January 3.  

Another Hindu man named Amrit Mondal was lynched over alleged extortion in Rajbari town’s Pangsha Upazila, on December 24, as reported by Deccan Herald.

Dipu Chandra Das, 25, was lynched by a mob on December 18. His body was set on fire over alleged blasphemy in Mymensingh City on December 18.

With inputs from agencies