Jashore: In the latest attack targeting minorities in Bangladesh, a 45-year-old Hindu factory owner and acting newspaper editor, Rana Pratap, was shot in the head by a group of men on Monday evening.

Local sources said Pratap, who had multiple cases filed against him, was allegedly linked to an extremist group. His killing comes amid a spate of violence against the Hindu community in the country, including the rape of a Hindu widow and the murders of at least three Hindu men since December, sparking criticism of the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government’s handling of minority safety.

Officials reported that the incident took place around 6 pm in the Kopalia Bazar area of Manirampur sub-district in southwestern Bangladesh. Akhtar Faruk Mintu, chairman of the Manoharpur Union Parishad, said Pratap, the son of a schoolteacher from Arua village in neighbouring Keshabpur sub-district, had been running an ice factory in Kopalia Bazar for two years.

“Some men called him out of the ice factory, took him to an alley, and shot him dead there,” Mintu said.