Do I shoot you? Bangladesh Hindu man's colleague asked before killing him

The person who killed Bajendra Biswas, a Hindu Bangladeshi, this week, asked him, "Do I shoot you," before he ended up killing his colleague, according to reports from several news outlets in Bangladesh. Eyewitness accounts suggest that the killer, Noman Mia, had asked that as a joke, and the death could be the result of a prank gone horribly wrong. However, coming amid a spate of killings of Hindus in Bangladesh, there is no question of any insinuation, and the police are probing the matter.

Both Bajendra Biswas and Noman Mia were members of the Ansar Bahini, a Bangladeshi auxiliary paramilitary force used for internal security, rural protection and community policing. They had been deployed as security guards at a garment factory in Bhaluka upazila of Mymensingh along with 20 other Ansar Bahini members on Monday evening, police said. The incident occurred at Sultana Sweaters Limited, a factory operated by the Labib Group in the Mehrabari area.

It was in Bhaluka that Dipu Chandra Das, a Hindu worker of a garments factory, was lynched over blasphemy allegations on December 18.

According to Bangladeshi news outlets, at the time of the incident, Bajendra Biswas and Noman Mia were sitting together when a shotgun in Noman's possession went off, striking Bajendra in the left thigh.

A fellow Ansar member and eyewitness, Md Ajahar Ali, told Khobor Sangjog, "Noman Mia and Bajendra Biswas were sitting together in my room. Suddenly, Noman placed the shotgun against Bajendra’s thigh and said, 'Shall I shoot?' and then fired. I did not see any argument or dispute between them before the incident."

Biswas was critically injured and rushed to the Bhaluka Upazila Health Complex by colleagues. He was declared brought dead by the on-duty doctor.

Bhaluka Model Police Station officer-in-charge Jahidul Islam told Khobor Sangjog that the accused was arrested immediately after the incident. "The accused has claimed that the gun went off accidentally while he was joking. Another Ansar member present at the scene gave a similar statement," he said.

However, the police said they were not ruling out other possibilities. "We are investigating whether there was any other reason behind the shooting," Jahidul Islam added.

Mymensingh Additional Superintendent of Police (Finance and Administration), Md Abdullah Al Mamun who confirmed the incident later that night, was quoted by Khobor Sangjog as saying, "The accused was arrested in an immediate operation. A thorough investigation has been launched to determine the actual cause of the incident." Police said Bajendra's remains were sent to the morgue of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital for post-mortem examination.

The shooting comes amid heightened scrutiny over the safety of religious minorities in Bangladesh following two other killings reported earlier this month. On December 18, Dipu Chandra Das was lynched by a mob in Bhaluka over allegations of blasphemy. He was beaten, stripped and later set afire, triggering widespread outrage. Days later, another Hindu man was beaten to death in a separate incident reported from outside Mymensingh, adding to concerns over a spate of violent attacks within a short span. There has been outcry over targeted attacks and killings of minorities, including Hindus, in Bangladesh under the interim regime of Muhammad Yunus.

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