Hindu leader abducted from his home and brutally killed amidst large scale persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh

Case ID : aa4af3d | Location : Dinajpur District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Sat, 19 April, 2025

Case ID : aa4af3d

Dinajpur District, Bangladesh

19 April, 2025

Hindu leader abducted from his home and brutally killed amidst large scale persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh

Attack resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Attacked for supporting/being part of perceived Hindu party/org or working for Hindu community

Case Summary

A 58-year-old Hindu man named Bhabesh Chandra Roy was abducted from his residence and later beaten to death in a brutal assault. The incident took place in Biral Upazila of Dinajpur district, Bangladesh. Roy was a respected figure in the local Hindu community, serving as the Vice-President of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad (Biral unit). According to reports, he received a phone call around 4:30 pm while at home. Shortly thereafter, at approximately 5 pm, four individuals stormed his house and forcibly took him away on motorcycles. He was taken to Narabari village, where he was subjected to severe torture. Later, his unconscious body was returned to his family on a van. He was rushed to a nearby health complex and then referred to Dinajpur Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. Upon being informed, the police visited the scene and sent the body for post-mortem examination. Roy’s wife has reportedly identified two of the assailants involved in the abduction.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the category- Attack resulting in death. Within this, the first 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. The second sub-category under which this case has been placed is- Attacked for supporting/being part of perceived Hindu party/org or working for Hindu community. In several cases, Hindus are attacked specifically or tangentially for their association with parties or organizations perceived to be pro-Hindu and/or for working in favor of the Hindu community. One of the classic cases was the attack against a Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha (BJYM) worker Praveen Nettaru. Nettaru was attacked and hacked to death for his association with Hindu organizations and his work for the Hindu community. He was murdered by PFI, a terror organization that aimed to commit a genocide of Hindus, target Hindu leaders specifically, and turn India into an Islamic Nation. In such cases, it is possible that the immediate trigger for the violence is non-religious – either according to the perpetrator or the police. However, there are surrounding circumstances from which the conclusion can be reached that the victim was attacked for his association with a Hindu organization. In a similar case, Rinku Sharma was attacked by radicals. He was a member of Bajrang Dal and regularly worked for the Hindu community. While the police cited a different non-religious trigger for the attack, it is true that he was associated to a Hindu organization and the family of Rinku Sharma specifically attributed his gruesome murder to him working for Bajrang Dal and raising Jai Shree Ram slogans. Such cases are intrinsically driven by religious hate. Under this category, cases where the attack led to the death of the Hindu victim/s would be documented. Here, a 58-year-old Hindu man named Bhabesh Chandra Roy was abducted from his residence and later beaten to death. Roy was a respected figure in the local Hindu community, serving as the Vice-President of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad (Biral unit). While the available details do not explicitly indicate a religious motive, A 58-year-old Hindu man, Bhabesh Chandra Roy, was abducted from his home and later beaten to death. Roy was a well-respected member of the local Hindu community, holding the position of Vice-President of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad (Biral unit). While no explicit religious angle is mentioned in this incident, the broader context must be considered. In situations of ongoing ethnic cleansing based on religious identity, it is reasonable to assume that every crime is motivated by the same religious animosity, even if there is no direct religious marker in the immediate act. During such times, the dehumanisation of individuals based on their faith and the normalisation of religious hostility influence the crimes committed against them, even when the stated motive does not directly reference religion. For the purpose of documenting the 2024 ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh, the Hinduphobia Tracker is assuming a religious motivation from the outset. If any case is conclusively proven to have been driven by factors other than religious hostility, it will be removed from the hate crime database retrospectively.