A self-styled spiritual leader was beaten to death by a mob in Bangladesh on Saturday, officials said, in the latest incident of violence driven by religious tensions.
The country has witnessed a surge in religious intolerance and mob attacks since the 2024 uprising that ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Shamim Reza Jahangir, believed to be in his 60s, died from injuries after hundreds of people stormed his residence in Kushtia district and assaulted him with sticks, according to chief administrative official Touhid bin Hasan.
The attack was reportedly triggered by the resurfacing of an old video on Friday, in which he allegedly claimed that those who wrote the Quran were illiterate and that readers were worse off.
“Sensing that something might happen, police went to the spot, and the administration tried their best. But an angry mob of more than 200 people attacked his residence,” bin Hasan said.
Jahangir was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Police sources indicated that he had previously been arrested briefly in 2021 over remarks that provoked outrage among locals, adding that the circulating video was recorded during that period.
A police spokesman, AHM Sahadat Hossain, confirmed that an investigation is ongoing.
Mob violence remains a persistent issue in Bangladesh, a nation of about 170 million people. According to Odhikar, at least 153 people were killed in mob attacks between August 2024—when Hasina’s administration ended and she fled to India—and September 2025.
Saturday’s killing marks the first such incident since the Bangladesh Nationalist Party assumed power in February.