A Hindu businessman, who was also an assistant editor of a local newspaper, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Bangladesh’s Jessore district on Monday evening, news agency PTI reported, citing local media.According to Bangla-language daily Prothom Alo, the victim was identified as 38-year-old Dearna Pratap Bairagi, a resident of Arua village in Keshabpur upazila of Jessore district of Khulna division.Bairagi owned an ice cream factory in Kopaliya Bazar in Monirampur and was also deputy editor of Dainik BD Khabar, a newspaper published in neighboring Narail district, the report said.The incident took place at Kapalia Bazar around 5:45 p.m., Additional Commissioner of Police Abul Basar told news portal bdnews24.Citing police and local residents, Prothom Alo reported that three men arrived at the ice factory on a motorcycle and called Bairagi outside. They allegedly took him to a narrow alley near the Kapalia Clinic and Diagnostic Center, located on the west side of Kapalia Bazaar.The attackers then shot him in the head at close range before fleeing the scene. Bairagi died on the spot, the daily reported.“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 said the motive behind the murder was not immediately known and an investigation was underway to identify those involved.Police also said four cases have been registered against Bairagi at two police stations, but details of these cases were not immediately available. The killing is the latest in a series of violent incidents against members of Bangladesh’s Hindu community in recent weeks.On January 3, Khokon Chandra Das (50) died after being brutally attacked, hacked and set on fire. On December 24, another Hindu, Amrit Mondal, was lynched for alleged extortion in Pangsha upazila of Rajbari town.Earlier, on December 18, Dipu Chandra Das (25) was lynched by a mob and his body set on fire for alleged blasphemy in Mymensingh town. In another incident on December 23, unidentified men set fire to the house of Qatar-based expatriate workers Shukh Shil and Anil Shil in Raojan area on the outskirts of Chattogram, but the residents escaped unhurt.
