Authorities in Bangladesh have arrested 10 people for the horrific lynching of Hindu man Dipu Chandra Das for alleged blasphemy in Bhaluka, in Mymensingh, two days after the 25-year-old factory worker was killed by a mob, his body hung from a tree branch on a main thoroughfare and set on fire, with people livestreaming the incident.

The Mymensingh Rapid Action Battalion- 14 office on Saturday afternoon said that while seven people had been arrested by the RAB 14, three people were arrested by police in raids at different places.

The arrested are Limon Sarkar (19), Tarek Hossain (19), Manik Mia (20), Ershad Ali (39), Nijhum Uddin (20), Alamgir Hossain (38), Miraj Hossain (46), Ajmal Sagir (26), Shaheen Mia (19) and Nazmul (21).

RAB Additional Superintendent of Police and Company Commander Shamsuzzaman said that the arrested persons will be handed over to the police through legal process.

On Thursday (December 18) night, a large mob of people, mostly youngsters, mercilessly beat Dipu and then strung up his body from a tree branch beside a main thoroughfare and set him on fire, accusing him of blasphemy, which he denied ever having done.

Dipu was a worker at the Pioneer Knitwear BD Limited factory in Jamirdia area of Bhaluka.

Later, the police sent the burnt body to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital for autopsy.

His father, Ravi Chandra Das, said, “My son is not responsible in any way. He was systematically slandered and killed. We want a fair trial.” Dipu was the sole bread earner and supported his family comprising his partially disabled father, his mother, his wife and his child, with his income.

Mymensingh Additional Superintendent of Police (Administration) Abdullah Al Mamun said that no one has the right to take the law into their own hands. A case has been filed in this incident. The matter will be investigated and legal action will be taken.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has claimed that a floor manager of the factory handed Dipu Chandra Das over to an enraged crowd after forcing him to resign from his job.

RAB-14 Director Naimul Hassan said the floor manager Alamgir Hossain, 38, has been arrested, alongside Miraz Hossain Akon, 46, a quality manager of the same factory.

The murder of Dipu occurred in Bhaluka’s Jamirdiya. Dipu’s ancestral home is in Tarakanda. He had been working at the readymade garment factory for two years. A case has been filed by Dipu’s brother over the murder against unidentified people.

The RAB has arrested seven and police three in connection with the murder case.

RAB Director Naimul said: “Investigators are trying to find answers to why he was handed over to the crowd and police were not called."

He said "Previous enmity could be a motive here or the pressure from the crowd".

In a post on the case, well-known Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, who lives in exile in India, wrote on X, that a Muslim coworker wanted to punish Dipu over a trivial matter, and he accused him of making derogatory remarks about the Prophet, which Dipu denied ever saying. But the crowd was not prepared to listen, they went ahead took him away from police custody and beat him to death.

Pawan Kalyan, actor-turned politician and Deputy CM of Andhra Pradesh, in a heartfelt post on X wrote that the targeting of minorities in Bangladesh under the Interim government “is clear and cruel”

“Last year, we saw the unjust jailing of the ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das and the brutal lynching of the Communist party leader Pradip Bhowmik. And now the horrific murder of Dipu Chandra Das in Mymensingh. This young man was not just killed; he was subjected to a level of savagery that shames the 21st century. Reports confirm he was lynched in public by a frenzied mob, his body was then hanged from a tree, and he was set on fire. To witness such a demonic act in broad daylight is a sign of a complete collapse of humanity and the rule of law. My heart goes out to the soul of Dipu Das. I pray for his peace and offer my deepest condolences to his grieving family, who have had to endure a loss so gruesome it is beyond comprehension.”

He also called upon the Bangladesh’s Leadership to “move beyond mere words of condemnation and restore stability”, and ensure the safety of every Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian citizen.

“The perpetrators of the Mymensingh horror must face the ultimate justice to show that no mob is above the law.” “I also urge World Leaders and the international community @UNHumanRights @UN to open their eyes to the plight of minorities in Bangladesh. Selective silence is a betrayal of human rights.

“The blood of our 1971 martyrs was shed for a land of peace, not a land of persecution. We cannot, and will not, remain silent.”

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has also voiced deep concern over the lynching and urged the government to take up minority safety with Bangladeshi authorities.