Hindu police officer religiously profiled, killed and his body set ablaze by Muslim mob in Bangladesh

Case ID : d326e12 | Location : Habiganj District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Sun, 4 August, 2024

Case ID : d326e12

Habiganj District, Bangladesh

4 August, 2024

Hindu police officer religiously profiled, killed and his body set ablaze by Muslim mob in Bangladesh

Attack resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Bangladesh's Baniachong police station, a Hindu officer, Sub-Inspector Santosh Bhabhu, was religiously profiled and set ablaze by a Muslim mob on 5 August 2024, resulting in his death. This happened on the day when Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee Bangladesh. As per Bangladeshi media reports, on the day of the incident, a Muslim mob attacked the Baniachong police station amidst political unrest during Sheikh Hasina's exile. This incident occurred just hours before the resignation of then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Citing self-defence, Santosh Bhabhu and other policemen opened fire to disperse the mob, killing three people on the spot. Several others were injured, one of whom succumbed to his injuries during treatment. Around 1 a.m. that night, the Muslim mob returned and surrounded the police station. Later, when army personnel arrived on the scene, the mob agreed to release all the police officers in exchange for Santosh Bhabhu. Following this, Santosh Bhabhu was beaten to death around 2:15 a.m. His body was left on the road and set ablaze. The incident came to light when investigative journalist and author Shahidul Hasan Khokon posted a video on X on 2 January 2026. In the video, a young Muslim student leader was seen making provocative statements like "We burnt down SI Santosh, a Hindu officer." He openly admitted he set fire to the Baniachong police station during the August 2024 uprising. Shahidul identified the Muslim leader as the student coordinator of Habiganj district. In the video, the Muslim accused sat inside a police station, threatening the officer in charge and saying that he would burn the station down. After the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government on 5 August 2024, Bangladesh plunged into chaos as Muslim extremists took advantage of the political turmoil to unleash a wave of terror and violence against the Hindu community. Muslim mobs attacked Hindu homes, burned them to the ground, and abducted women in a horrific descent into anarchy. Several temples were destroyed in various parts of the Islamic country in a major crackdown on Hindus. Further, the arrest of Hindu priests exacerbated the situation, with Hindu minorities protesting across Bangladesh and seeking justice.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

The primary category selected in this case is- Attack resulting in death. The subcategory 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. This case stands as a clear instance of a religiously motivated hate crime against a Hindu man targeted for his religious identity. The Muslim mob religiously profiled Hindu police officer Santosh Bhabhu, separated him from his colleagues, beat him severely, murdered him, and set his body ablaze simply because he was a Hindu. Such attacks on Hindus purely for their faith reveal the perpetrators' deep-seated animosity towards Hinduism and the Hindu community. The mob's deliberate selection of Santosh Bhabhu for execution, followed by the brutality of his assault and the desecration of his body by fire, exposes hatred not for his role as a police officer but explicitly for his Hindu identity, marking this as targeted religious profiling and killing. The boasting by one perpetrator intensifies this hate crime, as the young Muslim student leader openly bragged about burning "SI Santosh, Hindu officer" while threatening police inside a station. The fact that he boasted about the killing demonstrates his pride in murdering Hindus, portraying overt religious animosity. This brazen display shows that Muslim extremists in Bangladesh operate without fear, unleashing savagery and impunity against Hindus, even uniformed officers. Their confidence in publicising such acts underscores the pervasive threat Hindus face nationwide from religiously motivated violence. Such targeted killings of Hindus simply for being Hindus constitute a clear case of a hate crime. Henceforth, this incident is added to the hate crime database of the Hinduphobia Tracker.