Minor Hindu boy found dead after being kidnapped in Bangladesh

Case Summary
The body of 13-year-old Anoy Chandra Modak, a class eight student from Belab Pilot Government Modern High School, was found floating in the Arial Khan River in Narsingdi’s Belab Upazila on January 19, 2025, five days after he went missing. Anoy, the son of Gaurang Chandra Modak, went missing on January 14, 2025, after leaving home for Belab Bazaar to buy educational materials. That evening, his family filed a general diary at Belab Police Station, which was later converted into a case. After his disappearance, the family received a ransom call from an unknown number demanding one lakh taka. The money was transferred via bKash, but Anoy was not returned. Police tracked the bKash transaction to Bhola in Barisal, where a team was deployed to investigate. On January 19th, locals reported finding a body in the Arial Khan River. Police, along with PBI, CID, and DB, visited the site. Anoy’s family believed he was murdered and demanded strict punishment for those responsible. Anoy’s cousin, Palash Modak, expressed the family’s anguish, stating they had paid the ransom but lost Anoy to murder. Belab Police Station OC Mir Mahbubur Rahman confirmed investigations were ongoing and said the body’s identity would be verified through an autopsy and DNA test. The incident occurred amidst escalating violence against the Hindu community in Bangladesh following political instability after the fall of Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government on August 5, 2024. Islamist extremists have taken advantage of the chaos, targeting Hindu homes, abducting women, and destroying temples.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the category- Attack resulting in death. Under this, the sub-category 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 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, cases where the attack led to the death of the Hindu victim/s would be documented. When there is an ongoing ethnic cleansing based on religious identity, every crime in and of itself is assumed to be motivated by the same religious animosity even if there is a lack of specific religious marker in the immediate crime. During an ongoing ethnic cleansing, the dehumanisation of people based on their religious identity and the normalisation of religious hostility drives the crimes committed against them even when there is a lack of stated religious motive. For the purpose of documenting the 2024 ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh, the Hinduphobia Tracker is assuming religious motivation ab initio. If a case is specifically and beyond reasonable doubt proven to be driven by motivations other than religious hostility, it will post-facto be removed from the hate crime database.
Victim Details
Total Victim
1
Deceased
1
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 1
- Adult 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0

Case Status
Complaint registered

Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown