DHAKA: In the latest in a series of attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, Samir Das, a car driver, was beaten to death in Daganbhuiyan in Feni district. Police said it appeared to be a “pre-planned murder.”Samir (28), who was killed on Sunday evening, is the eighth fatality since the lynching of garment factory worker Dipu Chandra Das in Mymensingh on December 18, as attacks on the minority community, including their property, continue in the Muslim-majority country.The Daganbhuiyan incident came on a day when well-known Hindu musician and senior Awami League official Proloy Chaki died in police custody. His family members accused the prison administration of denying necessary medical attention, contradicting police claims that his death was a natural one. “Samir was beaten to death using country-made weapons. The attackers stabbed him to death and then fled in his battery-operated autorickshaw.” “It appears to be a pre-planned murder,” a police officer said, adding that no arrests had been made so far.Attacks on religious minorities, particularly Hindus, in Bangladesh have further strained relations between Delhi and Dhaka, with India last week criticizing the interim government led by Muhummad Yunus for trying to whitewash the communal intent behind the crimes. In response to India, the Yunus-led government tried to downplay reports of incidents, including the killings, as attempts to “destroy communal harmony through false propaganda.”
