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A 75-year-old freedom fighter (Muktijoddha) and his wife were found brutally murdered, their throats slit, at their home in Bangladesh's Rangpur. No case has been filed or arrests made over the murder of the elderly couple, whose two sons serve as police officers. The Awami League said the incident highlighted a surge in attacks on minorities under the interim regime of Muhammad Yunus.
An image of Bangladeshi Hindus protesting against attacks on temples and killings of people of the community, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. (Image for representation: AP)
A freedom fighter of the 1971 Liberation War (Muktijoddha) and his wife were found dead in Bangladesh's Rangpur, both with their throats slit at their home. The victims, 75-year-old Jogesh Chandra Roy and his wife Suborna Roy, were discovered by neighbours on Sunday morning after repeated knocks at their door went unanswered. The deceased couple's sons reportedly serve in the Bangladesh Police.
The killings come amid rising alarm over attacks on minorities, particularly Hindus, under Muhammad Yunus's interim administration. The police force was brutally targeted during the movement to oust Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in July-August 2024. Dozens of cops were lynched and murdered, and scores never reported back to duty. Sources and reports suggest that Bangladesh is still functioning without a full police force even after a year of the August 2024 mayhem.
Minority rights groups have reported that thousands of incidents of communal violence have taken place in Bangladesh since Sheikh Hasina's ouster in August 2024, even as Yunus has insisted the accounts of anti-Hindu attacks are "exaggerated propaganda".
Reacting to the incident, Awami League leader Mohammad Ali Arafat, who is in exile, said that the incident underscored increasing threats faced by freedom fighters and their families. Arafat warned that under the rule of Muhammad Yunus, backed by the anti-liberation Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami, such attacks and killings are becoming more frequent.
"Freedom fighters in Bangladesh are facing not only humiliation and attacks but are even being killed under the rule of Yunus, which is backed by the anti-liberation Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami," said Arafat, who was the Information Minister in the Hasina Cabinet.
ELDERLY HINDU COUPLE'S THROAT SLIT, KILLED IN BANGLADESH
The bodies of 75-year-old Roy and his 60-year-old wife were discovered early Sunday at their home in the Uttar Rahimapur area of Kursha in Bangladesh's northern Rangpur district, reported news agency, Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).
On Sunday morning, at around 7.30 AM, neighbours and their household help reportedly received no reply after repeated knocks on the door. They then used a ladder over the main gate to enter the house premises. Inside, they found Suborna Roy's body in the kitchen, and Jogesh Chandra Roy's body in the dining room, Dhaka-based daily, reported Prothom Alo.
Both had their throats slit.
Although none of the reports mention the perpetrators of the crime, the outlawed Awami League of ousted PM Sheikh Hasina has linked the killings to the Yunus regime and its support to "the anti-liberation Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami."
Police said the attack occurred around 1 AM on Sunday.
NO CASE FILED AS OF SUNDAY AFTERNOON; DECEASED COUPLE'S SONS POLICE OFFICERS
Jogesh Chandra Roy was a veteran of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and later served as headteacher of a government primary school. He retired in 2017.
The couple lived alone in their village house. Their two sons, Shoven Chandra Roy and Rajesh Khanna Chandra Roy, serve in different units of Bangladesh Police, one at Joypurhat and the other at Dhaka respectively.
Officers from Taraganj Police Station, including the Officer-in-Charge (OC), and district officials visited the house. A forensic team and detectives were deployed, and an autopsy was ordered, reported The Daily Star. The report added that the motive of the killings is still unknown. Police said they didn't find any record of prior disputes involving the Hindu family.
Officials have not released any suspect profiles nor confirmed whether robbery, communal motive, or targeted political violence is being considered.
As of Sunday, 2 PM, no case had been filed, noted the report in Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS).
Local community and veteran-freedom-fighter leaders, angered by the brutality, have demanded arrests, with some threatening protests if perpetrators are not apprehended promptly, noted the Prothom Alo report.
These killings come amid growing alarm in Bangladesh over attacks on minorities, including Hindus, under the interim administration of Muhammad Yunus. Since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, reports of attacks on Hindu homes, businesses, and temples in multiple districts of Bangladesh have emerged. In December 2024, a mob vandalised at least 20 homes and a temple after an alleged blasphemy post on social media, in Sunamganj district's Monglargaon.
The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council documented around 2,000 incidents of communal violence against minorities from August 4 to 20, 2024, including 9 Hindu deaths and 69 attacks on places of worship. Two months back in October, Islamists took to the streets across Bangladesh, demanding an immediate ban on Isckon, which they labelled as an "extremist organisation".
However, Bangladesh's interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, has stated that the reports of anti-Hindu violence are exaggerated.
- Ends
Published By:
Sushim Mukul
Published On:
Dec 8, 2025
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