Kamal Ghorui
A mob beat a self-proclaimed spiritual leader to death in Bangladesh’s Kushtia district on Saturday.According to news agency AFP, Shamim Reza, who was believed to be in his 60s, succumbed to his injuries after hundreds of people stormed his residence and thrashed him with sticks.According to the report, the mob was angered after an old video of the man resurfaced online on Friday. It allegedly showed him claiming that those who wrote the Quran were illiterate and those who read it 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,” chief administrative official Touhid bin Hasan told AFP.After the incident, Jahangir was taken to hospital, where he was declared dead.Police sources told AFP that Jahangir had been briefly arrested in 2021 for making comments that angered villagers. They added that the video that circulated on Friday was recorded during that time.Bangladesh police spokesman AHM Sahadat Hossain said an investigation was underway.Mob attacks are becoming more common in Bangladesh. According to the report, at least 153 people were killed in mob violence from August 2024 to September 2025.Saturday’s killing was the first since the Bangladesh Nationalist Party swept to power in February.
