Hindu youth murdered by Muslims in Bangladesh amidst ongoing persecution of Hindu minorities

Case ID : d327a52 | Location : Chittagong District, Bangladesh | Date of Incident : Mon, 23 February, 2026

Case ID : d327a52

Chittagong District, Bangladesh

23 February, 2026

Hindu youth murdered by Muslims in Bangladesh amidst ongoing persecution of Hindu minorities

Attack resulting in death

Attacked for Hindu identity

Case Summary

In Chattogram, Bangladesh, a Hindu youth named Akash Das was brutally murdered by a group of Muslim youths during an attempted money extortion. The deceased victim resisted the accused while they were extorting money, which led the perpetrators to attack and kill him in a particularly violent manner. This occurred on the night of 24 February 2026, when Akash Das was stabbed to death by local Muslim extortionists in Chattogram. The deceased Akash was the son of Babul Das of the Dhopapara area adjacent to Alankar Mor in Chattogram. According to the deceased victim’s family members and eyewitnesses, Akash had long been working at a toy factory at Sagarika Bitak Bazar Mor. Co‑workers stated that a Muslim group had been demanding extortion money from the factory workers for quite some time. Because Akash protested, they were unable to collect extortion from the workers. This led to hostility between him and the accused. On the night of the incident, after having dinner and going to his workplace, he saw that the extortion gang had attacked another factory worker named Michael. When Akash went forward to save the assaulted Michael, the extortionist group, acting out of prior anger, carried out a brutal attack on him. First, they struck Akash on the head with a helmet and later stabbed him indiscriminately. In critical condition, he was first taken to Al‑Amin Hospital at AK Khan Mor in the city. As his condition deteriorated there, he was transferred to Chattogram Medical College Hospital. The on‑duty doctor declared him dead. The family stated that Akash Das was killed in a premeditated manner due to prior enmity. Eyewitnesses said that those involved in the attack included identified Muslim extortionists named Iman, Nazmul, Mohsin, Ratul, Mannan, Hriday and Antar, along with several others. It was stated that they collectively carried out the attack on Akash. The victim’s family has demanded a proper investigation into the incident and the swift arrest and exemplary punishment of those responsible. Akash’s brother, Sagar Das, said preparations were underway to file a murder case at the police station. Police have visited the hospital and the scene and collected necessary information. The Station House Officer of Pahartali Police Station stated that action would be taken after investigation once the family filed a case. 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 by Muslims. 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 being 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. This case qualifies as a hate crime in the context of the escalating vulnerability of Hindus in Bangladesh, where even routine criminal disputes increasingly unfold within an atmosphere of communal hostility. Akash Das, a Hindu youth from Dhopapara in Chattogram, was stabbed to death by a group of identified Muslim extortionists after he resisted their attempts to extort money from factory workers. While the immediate trigger was his protest against extortion and his intervention to save another assaulted worker, the brutality, collective mobilisation and fatal escalation reflect a broader climate in which Hindu individuals face heightened exposure to extreme violence in Bangladesh. The attack was not limited to a spontaneous altercation. Multiple named assailants acted together, first striking Akash on the head with a helmet and then stabbing him indiscriminately. The coordinated nature of the assault, combined with prior hostility, indicates targeted retribution. In a socio‑political environment where Hindus are frequently subjected to intimidation, land grabs, extortion and mob attacks, resistance by a Hindu individual can trigger disproportionate retaliation. In recent years, hostility towards Hindus in Bangladesh has intensified to a level where even minor or routine disputes are capable of triggering disproportionate and organised religiously motivated violence against them. What might ordinarily remain a local disagreement or criminal matter has, in multiple documented instances, escalated into mob mobilisation, physical assault and lethal force directed at Hindu individuals. This pattern reflects an environment in which anti‑Hindu sentiment is normalised and readily activated, allowing small incidents to be framed through a communal lens. The result is a climate of heightened vulnerability where Hindu citizens can be targeted swiftly and collectively, not because of the gravity of the trigger but because entrenched hostility already exists beneath the surface. 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 their 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. The killing of Akash Das must therefore be examined not in isolation but against this documented backdrop of repeated targeting of Hindu individuals across Bangladesh. The extreme violence deployed against him following a workplace dispute demonstrates how precarious the security of Hindu citizens has become. His murder aligns with a continuing pattern in which Hindu individuals who assert themselves or resist coercion face lethal consequences. Given the broader environment of sustained anti‑Hindu persecution and the collective, retaliatory nature of the assault, the case meets the threshold for inclusion in the Hinduphobia Tracker’s hate crime database.