Hindu businessman killed, his shop looted amid large scale persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh

Case Summary
In Hazaribagh, Bangladesh, a jewellery businessman who was a Hindu named Sajal Rajbanshi, aged 37, was shot and 70 tolas of gold were looted from his shop. The incident occurred on Thursday 23rd January 2025 at around 11 PM. Sajal was first taken to Dhaka Medical and later transferred to Dhanmondi Popular Hospital for advanced treatment. Sajal's brother, Joy Rajbanshi, stated that their house was in the Hazaribagh section Beribadh area and they had a gold shop named “Iti Jewelers” in Kamrangirchar. While returning home on a motorcycle after closing the shop at night, Sajal was accosted by a few robbers on two motorcycles and shot. The accused shop Sajal in the left knee and snatched the gold bag from his shoulder. Joy Rajbanshi stated that the bag contained approximately 70 tolas of gold. Md. Faruk, the in-charge of the police camp at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said that the injured Sajal was brought to the hospital by his relatives. They alleged that the robbers shot Sajal in the leg and snatched the gold bag. Later, he was sent to a private hospital for advanced treatment. The incident took place amidst a surge in attacks on Hindu minorities following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024. Since then, Bangladesh has descended into chaos, with Islamist extremists exploiting the political instability to launch a campaign of terror and violence against the Hindu community. Islamist mobs have targeted Hindu homes, setting them ablaze, abducting women, and plunging the country into a state of anarchy. Numerous temples have also been destroyed across the Islamic nation, marking a severe crackdown on Hindus. The situation has further deteriorated with the arrest of Hindu priests, prompting widespread protests by Hindu minorities across Bangladesh, demanding justice and an end to the violence. Additionally, there have been numerous incidents of attacks on Hindus under the guise of "blasphemy." Recent cases involving individuals such as Hridoy Pal, Utsab Mandal, Partha Biswas Pintu, Akash Das, Pranta Talukder, and Utsab Kumar Gian serve as clear examples of targeted persecution. Efforts to downplay the violence against Hindus by labelling it as "fake," "exaggerated," or "politically motivated" have further aggravated the community's plight.
Why it is Hate Crime ?
This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Attack not 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. 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
0
Gender
- Male 1
- Female 0
- Third Gender 0
- Unknown 0
Caste
- SC/ST 0
- OBC 0
- General 0
- Unknown 1
Age Group
- Minor 0
- Adult 1
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 0

Case Status
Unknown

Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Unknown
Perpetrators Range
Unknown
Perpetrators Gender
unknown