Reports published by sections of the Indian media that described the killing of a Hindu man in Bangladesh’s Rajbari district as an episode of communal mob violence were misleading and factually incorrect, according to Bangladeshi police and local officials.

The man, Amrit Mandal, also known as Samrat, 29, was killed late Wednesday night at the Hosaindanga Old Market area of Pangsha upazila. 

While police confirmed that he died after being assaulted by local residents, they said the attack was linked to longstanding allegations of criminal activity and extortion, not to his religious identity.

Sheikh Moinul Islam, the officer in charge of Pangsha Model Police Station, said Mandal was known to law enforcement as the leader of a local criminal gang referred to as the “Samrat Bahini.” 

Police records show that he was wanted in multiple cases, including murder, and had been accused for years of extortion and intimidation in the area.

According to police and local residents, Mandal had recently returned from India after an extended absence. 

On Wednesday night, he and several associates allegedly went to a residence in Hosaindanga to collect extortion money. When the residents refused, the group reportedly assaulted a family member. 

Neighbors then raised an alarm, shouting that robbers were present, drawing a crowd from the surrounding area.

Mandal was apprehended by locals and beaten during the confrontation. He died at the scene. 

His associates fled, but one alleged accomplice, Selim Sheikh, was captured by residents and later handed over to police along with two firearms, including a pistol and a locally made weapon. 

Sheikh is a resident of Basa-Kushtia village in Pangsha, police said.

“There is no evidence of any communal motive in this incident,” Islam said, adding that public anger over sustained criminal activity and extortion was the central factor behind the violence.

Mandal was the son of Akshay Mandal, a resident of Hosaindanga village. His body has been sent for an autopsy, and police said multiple cases are being prepared in connection with both his alleged crimes and the circumstances of his death.

Authorities said portraying the killing as a religiously motivated attack distorts the facts and obscures the criminal background that preceded the incident. 

The investigation is continuing.

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