Hindu businessman kidnapped and his shop looted in Bangladesh

Case Summary
A Hindu businessman named Shibu Banik who owned a grocery store was abducted at gunpoint and 5 lakhs Tk were stolen from his shop by five men, including Muslims in Kalaiya Bazar of Patuakhali's Bauphal upazila in Bangladesh. On 3rd January 2025, Shibu Banik along with his two employees, Shankar and Taposh were at his shop when 8-10 masked masked men entered the shop pointing guns at them. They tied the three of them looted the cash and abducted Shibu Banik. Krishna Roy Banik, wife of Shibu Banik filed a case in the nearby police station. Local businessmen of that area demanded the rescue of Shibu Banik and the arrest of the criminals. After two days, the police managed to rescue Shibu Banik and arrested five men including one minor. The accused were identified as Masud Sharif, Miraj Mridha, Zahir Pyada, Bidhan Mistry, and a juvenile. Police also recovered 1.35 lakh Tk looted from Shibu's shop along with weapons and mobile phones. According to the police, Shibu was abducted for extorting ransom. Shibu's wife received a call from the kidnappers with the ransom of 1 crore Tk. Since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on August 5, 2024, Bangladesh has plunged into chaos as Islamist extremists have taken advantage of the political turmoil to unleash a wave of terror and violence against the Hindu community. The Islamist mobs have attacked Hindu homes, burned them to the ground, and abducted women in a horrific descent into anarchy. Several temples have been destroyed in various parts of the Islamic country in a major crackdown on Hindus. Further, the arrest of three Hindu priests has exacerbated the situation with Hindu minorities protesting across Bangladesh seeking justice.
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 0
- Senior Citizen 0
- Unknown 1

Case Status
Arrested

Perpetrators Details
Perpetrators
Muslim Extremists
Perpetrators Range
From 2 To 5
Perpetrators Gender
male