Bangladesh unrest: Seven arrested over lynching of Hindu youth, says Yunus

The arrests come amid a wave of unrest in Bangladesh following the death of prominent student leader Sharif Osman Hadi.

Seven individuals have been arrested in connection with the brutal lynching of Hindu youth Dipu Chandra Das in Mymensingh, Bangladesh, the interim government announced on Saturday.

Das, 25, a garment factory worker, was attacked by a mob on Thursday night over alleged blasphemy.

According to police, he was beaten outside his workplace, hanged from a tree, and later his body was left on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway and set on fire. Authorities recovered the body and sent it for autopsy at Mymensingh Medical College.

The interim government, led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, stated that the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) conducted operations at multiple locations across Mymensingh to apprehend the suspects.

The ages of those arrested range from 19 to 46.

The government condemned the lynching, saying such violence has no place in the country and that “the perpetrators of this heinous crime will not be spared.”

The arrests come amid a wave of unrest in Bangladesh following the death of prominent student leader Sharif Osman Hadi. Protests erupted across Dhaka and other cities, with demonstrators vandalising buildings, including media offices, while demanding swift action against Hadi’s killers.

Ahead of Hadi’s funeral, security was heightened in Dhaka, with strict drone restrictions imposed around the Parliament. The US embassy in Dhaka urged citizens to remain vigilant, warning that “gatherings intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence.”

The Hindu population in the country has faced a series of attacks since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August last year.