Hindu man abducted and brutally murdered in Bangladesh amidst ongoing religious persecution of Hindus

Case ID : d327922 | Location : Gopalganj District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Sun, 22 February, 2026

Case ID : d327922

Gopalganj District, Bangladesh

22 February, 2026

Hindu man abducted and brutally murdered in Bangladesh amidst ongoing religious persecution of Hindus

Attack resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Koligram village under Jolirpar Union of Muksudpur Upazila of the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh, a Hindu man named Nishanta Baidya was abducted and brutally murdered by a few unidentified assailants. According to media reports, the victim was abducted from his home in Koligram village and brutally killed. His body was later dumped, intensifying fear within the minority Hindu community. Details surrounding the motive and circumstances of the killing remained unclear at this stage. At the time of writing this report, the local authorities had yet to release an official statement regarding arrests or confirmation of the allegations. However, community members described the killing as a targeted attack and stated religious motives behind the murder. This incident heightened tensions in the area, with minority Hindu families living in fear following the attack. Civil society representatives urged the government to ensure protection for vulnerable communities and uphold constitutional guarantees of religious freedom. Human rights advocates expressed deep concern over recurring reports of violence against religious minorities in parts of the country. They called for an immediate and impartial investigation and strict legal action against those responsible. A fresh wave of anti-Hindu violence followed the 13th National Parliamentary Election 2026 in Bangladesh, reinforcing a recurring pattern of post-poll violence targeting Hindu minorities. Within days of the announcement of results, Hindu families in districts such as Noakhali, Rangpur, Nilphamari, Sylhet, Thakurgaon, and Dinajpur reported coordinated attacks involving arson, looting, assault, and vandalism of temples and homes. In several instances, Hindu homes were selectively targeted, looted, and families were threatened with displacement. This escalation of violence against Hindus in Bangladesh unfolded in three distinct phases: first, following the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August 2024; second, after the death of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi in December 2025; and third, in the immediate aftermath of the 13th National Parliamentary Election 2026. This electoral violence unfolded against the broader backdrop of sustained anti-Hindu hostility that had persisted since the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government in August 2024. During that period, multiple reports documented attacks on Hindu homes, temples, and religious institutions, alongside intimidation campaigns, arson, and mob assaults targeting minority neighbourhoods. The Hinduphobia tracker has recorded 336 such incidents against the Hindu minority, underscoring the scale and persistence of anti-Hindu violence during this period. A further escalation occurred following the death of Sharif Osman Bin Hadi, a Muslim political activist and student leader known for his anti-Hindu and anti-India rhetoric. Hadi had been involved in political unrest after the fall of the Hasina government and was killed in Dhaka on 18 December 2025 during clashes. In the aftermath of his death, Hindu communities were blamed and subsequently targeted in retaliatory violence. Hindu homes were selectively set ablaze in multiple localities, forcing families to flee and leaving many displaced. The attacks appeared patterned rather than sporadic, with Muslim mobs focusing on Hindu neighbourhoods, properties, and religious symbols. Among the victims was Dipu Chandra Das, who was lynched to death and his body was set ablaze by a Muslim mob over false blasphemy allegations. The Hinduphobia tracker documented 51 incidents of anti-Hindu violence in the period following Hadi’s death alone. Such incidents underscore the vulnerability of the Hindu minority amid rising communal hostility and the weaponisation of religious accusations. Reports further indicated that posters and written materials calling for the extermination of Hindus were displayed in public spaces, signalling an alarming normalisation of genocidal rhetoric. When combined with acts of arson, vandalism, assault, and targeted intimidation, these developments suggest a coordinated environment of hostility aimed at terrorising the Hindu community and reinforcing majoritarian dominance.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case is added to the Hinduphobia Tracker under the primary category- 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. In this case, a Hindu man named Nishanta Baidya was abducted and brutally murdered by unidentified assailants in Koligram village under Jolirpar Union of Muksudpur Upazila of the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh. The victim was taken from his home, killed, and his body dumped, intensifying fear within the minority Hindu community. In the prevailing environment of anti-Hindu hostility in Bangladesh, this incident aligns with the wider pattern of violence affecting Hindus. While some may argue that the case details do not explicitly state a religious motive, the broader context of anti-Hindu persecution in Bangladesh remains relevant for classification. During periods of sustained violence against Hindus based on religious identity, the Hinduphobia Tracker applies a contextual presumption that attacks on Hindu victims are likely faith-targeted, even when the immediate report does not record a specific religious marker. In such periods, the normalisation of religious hostility and the dehumanisation of minorities can contribute to crimes against them without perpetrators openly stating a motive. For the purpose of documenting the 2024 to 2026 ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh and the subsequent persecution after the 13th National Parliamentary Election 2026 and the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, the Hinduphobia Tracker records such incidents as likely religiously motivated at the point of entry. If any case is later established through credible investigation or court findings to stem from motivations other than religious hostility, it will be revised or removed from the hate crime database. In this case, the extreme brutality of the abduction and murder is consistent with the severity observed in other reported attacks on Hindu victims during this period and therefore supports the contextual classification of likely religious hostility, absent contrary evidence. The case is documented as likely involving faith targeting, given the victim’s identity and the surrounding pattern of persecution, while remaining open to revision if new facts emerge. Notably, this attack occurred just weeks after a Hindu man, Dipu Chandra Das, was killed, and his body was set ablaze by a Muslim mob in Bhaluka town, Bangladesh, on 18 December 2025, following a false blasphemy allegation. When viewed alongside such incidents, the present case is recorded as part of a broader cycle of violence affecting Hindus, reinforcing the contextual presumption applied in this period. Therefore, this case is added to the hate crime database of the tracker. Disclaimer: The Hinduphobia Tracker records hate crimes based on when the crime occurs rather than when it is reported by the media. However, in this case, the media did not specify the exact date when the crime occurred. Therefore, the date when it was reported by the media, that is 23rd February 2026, has been selected as the indicative incident date. This is recorded for documentation purposes only. While some social media reports regarding this incident stated that the perpetrators were Muslims, the media reports did not specify the perpetrators' identity. Therefore, we are keeping the perpetrators' identity as 'Unknown'.