A Hindu businessman and four members of his family have been missing from Bangladesh’s Chandpur district since August 20, with police investigating reports that he had received threats, according to local media reports.
Pintu Das, who runs a shop and is also involved in lending money against gold jewellery, went missing along with his wife, two teenage sons and another family member, bdnews.com reported, citing police.
Investigators said the suspects allegedly entered the house to take yaba and killed the family after Ganapati confronted them. Police said the suspects remained inside the house after the killings and later scattered furniture, clothes and other belongings to make the incident appear like a robbery. Police arrested two suspects, identified as Mugdha and Siddhartha, in connection with the killings.
“I have learned that Pintu Das and four members of his family have been missing since August 20,” Chandpur Model Police Station officer-in-charge Foyez Ahmed said, according to news agency PTI. Ahmed said there were allegations that several people had not received their gold back after pledging jewellery with Das. However, he said the circumstances surrounding the family’s disappearance were still being investigated. “We will only be able to confirm after the investigation if Pintu Das and his family members have gone into hiding voluntarily or if something else has happened to them,” Ahmed said.
The disappearance comes amid renewed concerns over the safety of Bangladesh’s Hindu minority following the killing of a Hindu family in Rangpur last week.