DHAKA: Amid growing fear among minority communities ahead of the Feb-12 twin elections, a 62-year-old rice trader, Susen Chandra Sarkar, was brutally hacked to death inside his shop in Trishal upazila of Mymensingh.Police said unidentified assailants attacked Sarkar with a sharp weapon, killing him before locking the shop from outside and fleeing the scene. Family members later found him lying in a pool of blood.“After brutally killing my father, the miscreants looted several lakhs of taka from the shop,” Sarkar’s son, Sujan Sarkar, told the reporters. He also said their family had been running the rice business for many years and had no known disputes or enmity with anyone.According to Trishal police station officer-in-charge Muhammad Firoz Hossain, the murder occurred around 11pm on Monday at the Bogar Bazar intersection. Sarkar was rushed to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.The International Crisis Group sees a “real danger” of further attacks on candidates, as well as reprisals against Awami League supporters or Bangladesh’s Hindu minority.Meanwhile, the interim govt is providing financial and housing assistance to the family of Dipu Chandra Das (Dipu Das), who was beaten and burnt to death in Square Masterbari area of Bhaluka Upazila in Mymensingh district on Dec 18, 2025. As Dipu Das was the sole breadwinner, the govt has assured comprehensive financial assistance for the family, including the construction of a permanent home.
