Bangladesh Hindu family killing: Rights body seeks probe into possible militant links, condemns brutal murders

Paris, Aug 26 (AHN) A leading international human rights organisation has strongly condemned the brutal killing of four members of a Hindu family in Bangladesh’s Rangpur city, saying the possibility of religious extremist or militant links must be urgently investigated amid the UN’s recent findings.

Expressing grave concern over the brutal incident and subsequent police investigation, Justice Makers Bangladesh in France (JMBF) said that the killing of four members of a Hindu religious minority family, including a woman and a child, cannot be hastily dismissed as an ordinary or isolated crime.

The rights body said that the victims’ religious identity, the significant changes in the police’s initial and subsequent accounts of the motive, doubts raised by the victims’ relatives over the official narrative, and questions surrounding possible broader motives and links make a fully independent, impartial, scientific, and credible investigation essential.

JMBF further said that "in light of the UN’s recent warning, the victims’ religious minority identity, the changing police narrative, and the serious questions raised by the victims’ relatives, it would be equally irresponsible to dismiss possible religious extremist or militant links without proper investigation.”

The incident occurred on August 20, with police recovering the bodies of all four family members two days later, on the night of August 22.

The deceased were identified as retired Rangpur Zilla School teacher Ganapati Chakraborty, 65; his wife, Pritilata Chakraborty, 50; their daughter, Agami Chakraborty Prarthi, 23; and their son, Priyam Chakraborty, 12.

Bangladesh police on Monday arrested two young men in connection with the killing of a retired Hindu schoolteacher and three members of his family in Rangpur city.

Police said the duo planned and carried out the murders after the former Rangpur Zilla school teacher tried to prevent them from using yaba, a potent illicit methamphetamine-based drug, on the rooftop, according to local media reports.

The accused were identified as 23-year-old Siddhartha Das and 19-year-old Mugdha Das, both detained from the Dakhiganj cremation ground in the city.

Recently, the UN Security Council warned that Al-Qaida in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) has been attempting to use Bangladesh as a base to establish terrorist cells.

The finding appeared in the 38th report of the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team. The report was submitted to the Security Council committee dealing with Islamic State, Al-Qaida and associated groups.

JMBF stressed that although the UN report does not directly link the Rangpur killings to AQIS or any other militant group, the international security warning of possible terrorist activity inside Bangladesh “strengthens the need to investigate all possible motives and connections in this case impartially.”

The rights body also expressed concern over remarks reportedly made by Bangladesh’s Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed following publication of the UN report. According to JMBF, the minister publicly said that the government was not taking the report into account and reportedly said he had not yet read it at the time of making the statement.

Slamming the remarks, JMBF said it was deeply troubling “to effectively dismiss a potential international security warning connected to national security and the protection of religious minorities without properly examining it.”

The rights body called on the government of Bangladesh to immediately ensure an independent, impartial, credible, and high-level investigation into the quadruple murder in Rangpur rather than relying solely on the current police investigation.

It also urged the authorities to ensure that no possibility—including a communal motive, religious extremist or militant involvement, premeditation, robbery, personal dispute, or a broader criminal network—is excluded in advance.