A gruesome double murder in northern Bangladesh has triggered fresh alarm about the safety of minorities and veterans of the 1971 Liberation War. On Sunday morning, 75-year-old Muktijoddha (freedom fighter) Jogesh Chandra Roy and his wife Suborna Roy were found with their throats slit in their home in Rangpur district. The discovery was made after neighbours repeatedly knocked on their door and, receiving no response, scaled the gate using a ladder. Suborna’s body was found in the kitchen; Jogesh’s in the dining room. Police say the attack likely took place around 1:00 AM, but the motive remains unclear.
The murder has sent shockwaves through the local community not only because of the brutality of the killings, but also because the couple lived alone and had no reported disputes with anyone in the area. Their two sons—both serving officers in the Bangladesh Police—were stationed elsewhere, one in Joypurhat and the other in Dhaka. The elderly couple had been living quietly in their village home since Jogesh’s retirement from service as a headteacher in 2017. According to local media, as of Sunday afternoon no case had been filed, and no suspects have been named or detained. Police have begun forensic examinations, but residents and freedom-fighter organisations are already demanding swift arrests, warning of protests if the perpetrators are not identified.
The murders unfold against the backdrop of escalating concerns over attacks on minority communities, especially Hindus, under the interim regime of Muhammad Yunus, which took charge after the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. Rights groups have documented a surge in violence since then, reporting thousands of incidents of vandalism, looting and assaults on Hindu neighbourhoods, property and temples across Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council reported about 2,000 attacks within just sixteen days following Hasina’s removal from office. Yunus has dismissed the reports as exaggerated, but communities on the ground have described a climate of fear and impunity.
Leaders of the Awami League—now banned under the interim government—directly linked the Rangpur murders to the broader wave of violence. Mohammad Ali Arafat, former Information Minister and now in exile, said the killing of a freedom fighter and his wife exemplifies the threats faced by those associated with the liberation struggle and secular politics. He accused the interim government of emboldening “anti-liberation Islamist forces” such as Jamaat-e-Islami, alleging that minorities and wartime veterans are not only being harassed and humiliated but increasingly killed with no accountability.
This episode has reopened painful memories of the chaotic months of July–August 2024, when violent agitations that toppled Sheikh Hasina resulted in the lynching of dozens of police officers and the disappearance of many others who never reported back to duty. Even a year later, Bangladesh continues to function with a weakened and understaffed police force, worsening the sense of insecurity among minority communities already facing targeted hostility.
For now, the elderly couple’s murder remains officially unsolved. But the sense of fear spreading through Hindu and freedom-fighter communities has already become a political flashpoint. Local residents say they can no longer take safety for granted. Without arrests and visible accountability, the tragedy in Rangpur risks becoming another grim marker in what observers increasingly describe as one of Bangladesh’s most volatile periods in recent memory.
