Hindu man brutally attacked near a dargah in Chittagong amid ongoing persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh

Case ID : 30a912b | Location : Chittagong Division, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Tue, 16 June, 2026

Case ID : 30a912b

Chittagong Division, Bangladesh

16 June, 2026

Hindu man brutally attacked near a dargah in Chittagong amid ongoing persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In the Nimtal Dargah area of Patiya Upazila on the Chittagong–Cox's Bazar Highway in Chittagong district, Bangladesh, a Hindu man named Roni Das (29), a professional photographer, was attacked and robbed while returning home after covering a yellow-garland ceremony in Chittagong city. The victim, a resident of Ward No. 3 of Chandanaish Municipality and the son of Bijan Das, had been engaged in professional photography for a long time. At around 1:30 a.m. on 17 June 2026, while travelling home on his motorcycle, he was stopped by a group of miscreants near the Nimtal Dargah area. The attackers assaulted him with sharp weapons, causing serious injuries. They then snatched his motorcycle, professional camera, lenses, and other valuable photography equipment before fleeing the scene. Hearing his cries for help, local residents rushed to the spot, rescued him, and arranged medical treatment. He was subsequently admitted for treatment and was undergoing medical care. The incident sparked concern and anger among members of the local Hindu community, who demanded enhanced night-time security along the highway and the swift identification, arrest, and prosecution of those responsible. Law enforcement authorities initiated an investigation into the attack, and local residents expressed hope that the perpetrators would be identified and apprehended through closed-circuit television footage and other available evidence. Roni Das's family expressed deep concern over the incident and appealed to the relevant authorities to ensure the prompt arrest of the attackers and the recovery of the stolen property. This escalation of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh has unfolded in three distinct phases: first, following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024; second, after the death of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi in December 2025; and third, in the immediate aftermath of the 13th National Parliamentary Election 2026. Following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, multiple reports documented attacks on Hindu homes, temples, and religious institutions, alongside intimidation campaigns, arson, and mob assaults targeting minority neighbourhoods. The Hinduphobia tracker has recorded 336 such incidents against the Hindu minority, underscoring the scale and persistence of anti-Hindu violence during this period. A further escalation occurred following the death of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi, a Muslim political activist and student leader known for his anti-Hindu and anti-India rhetoric. Hadi had been involved in political unrest after the fall of the Hasina government and was killed in Dhaka on 18 December 2025 during clashes. In the aftermath of his death, Hindu communities were blamed and subsequently targeted in retaliatory violence. Hindu homes were selectively set ablaze in multiple localities, forcing families to flee and leaving many displaced. The attacks appeared patterned rather than sporadic, with Muslim mobs focusing on Hindu neighbourhoods, properties, and religious symbols. Among the victims was Dipu Chandra Das, who was lynched to death and his body was set ablaze by a Muslim mob over false blasphemy allegations. The Hinduphobia tracker documented 51 incidents of anti-Hindu violence in the period following Hadi’s death alone. Such incidents underscore the vulnerability of the Hindu minority amid rising communal hostility and the weaponisation of religious accusations. Reports further indicated that posters and written materials calling for the extermination of Hindus were displayed in public spaces, signalling an alarming normalisation of genocidal rhetoric. When combined with acts of arson, vandalism, assault, and targeted intimidation, these developments suggest a coordinated environment of hostility aimed at terrorising the Hindu community and reinforcing majoritarian dominance. The third phase of violence was unleashed after the 13th National Parliamentary Election 2026. Within days of the announcement of results, Hindu families in districts such as Noakhali, Rangpur, Nilphamari, Sylhet, Thakurgaon, and Dinajpur reported coordinated attacks involving arson, looting, assault, and vandalism of temples and homes. In several instances, Hindu homes were selectively targeted, looted, and families were threatened with displacement.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case is added to the tracker under the primary category: Attack not resulting in death. The subcategory selected is: Attacked for Hindu identity. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and the tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. In this case, a Hindu man, Roni Das, was brutally attacked, robbed, and seriously injured by unidentified assailants near the Nimtal Dargah area of Patiya Upazila on the Chittagong–Cox's Bazar Highway in Bangladesh. In the prevailing environment of anti-Hindu hostility and insecurity in Bangladesh, the incident aligns with the broader pattern of violence, intimidation, and targeting faced by vulnerable Hindu minorities. While the available details point towards a violent robbery and do not explicitly establish a religious motive, the broader context of anti-Hindu hostility, persecution, and insecurity in Bangladesh remains relevant for classification. During periods marked by sustained violence, intimidation, land-grabbing, extortion, and targeting of Hindus based on their religious identity, the Hinduphobia Tracker applies a contextual presumption that attacks on Hindu victims may be faith-targeted, even when immediate reports attribute the violence to criminal motives and do not record an explicit religious motive. In such circumstances, the vulnerability of Hindu communities and the normalisation of hostility towards religious minorities can contribute to attacks occurring without perpetrators openly expressing religious intent. For the purpose of documenting the 2024–2026 ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh and the subsequent persecution following the political exile of Sheikh Hasina, the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, and the 13th National Parliamentary Election 2026, the Hinduphobia Tracker records such incidents as likely religiously motivated at the point of entry. If any case is later established through credible investigation or court findings to stem from motivations other than religious hostility, it will be revised or removed from the hate crime database. The attack generated concern among local Hindus because the victim belonged to a vulnerable religious minority community. The fact that the assault occurred in the vicinity of the Nimtal Dargah further heightened concerns among the local Hindu community, given the broader backdrop of communal tensions and insecurity faced by Hindus in Bangladesh. According to available information, Roni Das was travelling home after completing a professional photography assignment when he was intercepted, violently attacked with sharp weapons, and robbed of valuable equipment. The brutality of the assault, which left him seriously injured and requiring medical treatment, reinforced existing fears among Hindus living in an environment already characterised by recurring incidents of anti-Hindu hostility, intimidation, extortion, land-related coercion, and violence. This incident must also be viewed within Bangladesh's broader anti-Hindu environment, where Hindu minorities frequently face insecurity, intimidation, extortion, land-grabbing attempts, social pressure, and violence. Attacks on Hindus are often attributed to ostensibly non-religious causes such as criminal activity, robbery, extortion, property disputes, personal disagreements, or other local conflicts, thereby obscuring the possibility of underlying religious hostility. In many instances, such explanations can divert attention from the broader pattern of discrimination and violence faced by Hindu minorities. The assault on Roni Das contributed to feelings of insecurity within the local Hindu community and reinforced the reality of vulnerability, irrespective of whether the perpetrators explicitly stated a religious motive. Given the prevailing anti-Hindu persecution environment in Bangladesh and the continuing pattern of violence affecting vulnerable Hindu minorities, this case meets the threshold for inclusion in the Hinduphobia Tracker's hate crime database.