Rumor Scanner Bangladesh
Search
Fact CheckIndiaReligious

Gazipur Hotel Businessman’s Killing Over Minor Dispute Falsely Portrayed as Communal Violence

Recently, a claim has been circulated on social media and in some Indian media outlets stating, “Beating a sweet vendor to death saying, ‘If there are pictures of Hindu deities in the shop, the food and sweets of the shop will not be halal’. Hindu murdered again in Bangladesh at the hands of extremist Islamist parents and son.”

See the post circulated on Facebook with such a claim here (Archive).

Report broadcast in Indian media claiming violence over keeping pictures of deities: Ei Samay.

Fact Check

The Rumor Scanner team’s investigation reveals that the claim “Hindu businessman Liton Chandra Ghosh alias Kali was murdered in Gazipur over keeping a picture of a Hindu deity in his shop” is not correct. In reality, a fight broke out following a sudden altercation over the alleged theft of a bunch of bananas, during which Liton Chandra died. There is no evidence of any communal motive behind the incident.

Investigating this matter, a report published on January 17 was found on the website of mainstream media ‘The Daily Star’. The report also includes a photo of the deceased that matches the one circulated with the viral claim.

Regarding this, the report stated that allegations arose of a hotel businessman named Liton Chandra Ghosh (55) being beaten to death over a ‘trivial incident’ in Kaliganj upazila of Gazipur on January 17. Quoting the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Kaliganj Police Station, Md. Zakir Hossain, the report stated, ‘After a bunch of bananas went missing from the accused’s banana orchard, they claimed to have found it in the shop of businessman Liton Chandra Ghosh. Following an altercation between the two parties, Liton was assaulted, fell to the ground, and later died.’

Additionally, quoting the victim’s family, the report stated, ‘Around 11 am today (January 17), Masum came to the hotel. He reportedly had an altercation with hotel employee Ananta Das over a minor issue, which later escalated into a scuffle. Later, Swapan and Majeda came to the spot and got involved in the fight. When Liton stepped forward to calm the situation, he too was beaten. At one point, he was hit on the head with a shovel, and he died on the spot.’

Similar information is also known from multiple other mainstream media sources. No mention of communal violence was found anywhere.

Furthermore, details of the incident are found in a post on the Facebook page of the Superintendent of Police, Gazipur. The post stated, ‘…On January 17 at around 11:45 am, the Duty Officer of Kaliganj Police Station learned that a person named Liton Chandra Ghosh @ Kali Ghosh (60) had been murdered at Baishakhi food hotel located on the west side of Bismillah Diagnostic Center at Baligaon under Kaliganj Police Station. Based on this news, a team from Kaliganj Police Station immediately reached the spot to take action and learned that the deceased Liton Chandra Ghosh @ Kali Ghosh (50)… has a Baishakhi food hotel on the west side of Bismillah Diagnostic Center. Someone stole a bunch of bananas from a banana plant in front of the house of accused 1. Md. Masum Mia (26)… 2. Md. Swapan Mia (48)… 3. Majeda Begum (42).

Later, when they asked Baishakhi hotel employee Ananta Das (18) about the said bunch of bananas, Ananta Das stated he knew nothing about the bunch of bananas. At one point, they entered Ananta Das’s (18) living room inside Baishakhi hotel and saw the bunch of bananas and called the people around to show it. At that time, an argument broke out between the accused and Baishakhi hotel employee Ananta Das (18). During the argument, a scuffle broke out between the two parties. At this time, while the owner of Baishakhi hotel, Liton Chandra Ghosh Kali Ghosh (60), tried to stop the scuffle, the mentioned Md. Masum Mia (26) hit Liton Chandra Ghosh @ Kali Ghosh (60) on the nose with an iron spatula from the hotel and started punching him in the chest and stomach, causing Liton Ghosh @ Kali Ghosh (60) to fall to the ground unconscious. When the people present quickly took him to the Kaliganj Upazila Health Complex, the doctor on duty declared him dead. … At this time, Kaliganj Police Station arrested the 03 people directly involved in this murder and took them into custody. … The described incident is not a pre-planned event or an incident related to a Hindu-Muslim communal dispute/conflict. A fight broke out due to sudden excitement over a trivial incident like the theft of a bunch of bananas. It is known that a certain group of people is spreading false propaganda to divert the issue of the incident, which is completely untrue and baseless. The overall matter is under the surveillance of Gazipur District Police and the investigation of the case is ongoing.’

Therefore, the claim that Hindu businessman Liton Chandra Ghosh alias Kali was murdered in Gazipur over keeping a picture of a Hindu deity in his shop is misleading.

Sources

Share: