New Delhi: After news spread of a second Hindu man being beaten to death in Bangladesh, the Muhammad Yunus-headed interim government condemned the killing by a mob in Rajbari town and said legal action will be taken against everyone involved in the incident.
The caretaker administration issued a statement giving details of the killing of Amrit Mondal alias Samrat on Wednesday night, to counter “misleading information” on the incident being spread on social media.
Describing Samrat’s death in the Pangsha police station area of Rajbari as a “tragic murder”, the government said police information and initial investigation indicated that the “incident was not a communal attack”.
The statement claimed Samrat “lost his life during a clash with an angry local crowd” after he arrived in the area allegedly to extort money. “He was an accused in several serious cases, including murder and extortion cases registered in 2023… there are arrest warrants against him”.
The Yunus administration informed that police arrested Samrat’s associate Selim who was in possession of a foreign pistol and a pipe gun.
“The government strongly condemns this killing. The government wants to make it clear that it does not support any kind of illegal activities, mass beatings or violence,” and it will take legal action against all persons directly or indirectly involved in the incident.
Three cases have been lodged in the Samrat killing case, and 12 persons have been arrested.
The government voiced concern that efforts were being made to portray the incident as a “communal attack by bringing up the religious identity of the deceased, which is completely baseless and malicious”.
Urging people to “refrain from spreading misleading, provocative and sectarian statements,” the government asserted it is determined to establish the rule of law and justice.
The incident, which comes a week after Dipu Das was lynched in Mymensingh, was reported in Bangladeshi media hours after Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Tarique Rahman returned to Dhaka to end a self-imposed 17-year exile.
Tarique, the son of former President Ziaur Rehman and ex-PM Khaleda Zia, said in his address on arrival that the “country belongs to Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians”.
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