Hindu businessman and his two sons brutally attacked by Muslim man amid rising attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh

Case ID : 30aa044 | Location : Jhalokati District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Fri, 21 August, 2026

Case ID : 30aa044

Jhalokati District, Bangladesh

21 August, 2026

Hindu businessman and his two sons brutally attacked by Muslim man amid rising attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh

Attack not resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

A Hindu businessman, Sameer Chakraborty, and his two sons, Shuvo Chakraborty and Likhon Chakraborty, were brutally attacked by a Muslim man named Raja Mia at Kachua Bazar in Sauljalia Union of Kathalia Upazila, Jhalakathi, Bangladesh. According to reports, the Hindu man, Sameer Chakraborty, ran a tea shop in the market. On 22 August 2026, he got into a minor dispute with Raja Mia, a local Muslim man from the same village, for refusing to sell goods on credit. During the argument, Raja Mia brutally attacked Sameer Chakraborty with a sharp weapon. When his two sons intervened to protect their father, they were also attacked and sustained serious injuries. Local residents rescued the three victims and took them for treatment at Amua Upazila Health Complex. As Sameer Chakraborty's condition deteriorated, he was subsequently transferred to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barisal for advanced treatment. Police conducted a raid shortly after the incident and arrested Raja Mia in connection with the attack. The incident created tension in the area, prompting additional police deployment to maintain law and order. On 24 August 2026, traders and local residents organised a human chain and protest march at Kachua Bazar, demanding the arrest and exemplary punishment of all those involved in the attack. Participants expressed concern over the safety of traders and residents and called for a fair investigation and swift legal action. The protesters also demanded proper treatment for the injured and effective measures to prevent similar attacks in the market. Police had not released a detailed statement establishing the full circumstances of the attack, and further investigation was expected to determine whether additional individuals were involved. 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 18th 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 ?

The primary category selected for this case is: Attack not resulting in death. The subcategory selected for this case 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. The incident involved the targeting of a Hindu businessman, Sameer Chakraborty, and his two sons, Shuvo Chakraborty and Likhon Chakraborty, who were attacked with sharp weapons by a Muslim man, Sameer Mia, at Kachua Bazar in Kathalia Upazila, Jhalakathi, Bangladesh. The immediate dispute arose after Sameer Chakraborty refused to sell goods on credit to Raja Mia, following which an argument broke out and Raja Mia attacked him with a knife. When his two sons intervened to protect their father, they were also attacked and seriously injured. While the immediate trigger recorded in the reports was a dispute over credit, the victims' Hindu identity and the collective nature of the subsequent targeting were relevant to assessing the incident within the wider context of anti-Hindu hostility in Bangladesh. While some may argue that the case details do not explicitly state a religious motive, the broader context of anti‑Hindu persecution in Bangladesh remains relevant for classification. During periods of sustained violence against Hindus based on religious identity, the Hinduphobia Tracker applies a contextual presumption that attacks on Hindu victims are likely faith‑targeted, even when the immediate report does not record a specific religious marker. In such periods, the normalisation of religious hostility and the dehumanisation of minorities can contribute to crimes against them without perpetrators openly stating a motive. For the purpose of documenting the 2024 to 2026 ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh and the subsequent persecution after 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 was particularly significant because the violence extended from the Hindu businessman to his two sons when they attempted to intervene. The three members of the same Hindu family were subjected to a violent assault inside a public marketplace, with the attackers using sharp weapons and causing serious injuries. The sheer dehumanisation of Hindus, that they can be attacked over such a minor dispute portrays the vulnerable environment they live in. Such a disproportionate response to a minor altercation highlights the underlying animosity the members of the Muslim community hold against Hindus. These actions reflect a dangerous mindset of religious supremacy that demands dominance and submission through violence. In such cases, even minor, non-religious provocations are met with aggressive or violent retaliation when the victim is Hindu, revealing an alarming pattern of identity-driven hostility that defines such hate crimes. This pattern of disproportionate retaliation, driven by identity-based hostility, is what qualifies the incident as a hate crime. Such attacks also serve a broader intimidatory purpose that extends beyond the immediate victims. They work as a message for the entire Hindu community that any resistance to, confrontation with, or opposition to the actions of members of the Muslim community would invite severe consequences. The violence, therefore, functioned not merely as an act of retaliation but as a demonstration of collective power intended to instil fear and deter future resistance. The case was included in the hate crime database to document the vulnerability of Hindu families to violent targeting within the broader environment of anti-Hindu hostility in Bangladesh.