Did Muslims kill a Hindu boy in Bangladesh?
Claim
Hindu child brutally murdered in Bangladesh!!
Mohammad Sohail and his friends together killed Nirob Mandal, a Hindu school boy.
Rating
Explanation
An image of a boy is shared widely with the claim that Mohammad Sohail and his friends killed a Hindu boy in Bangladesh in the context that Muslims killed a Hindu boy named Nirob Mandal. The viral posts mention that it was his fault to be a Hindu and is a sin to be a Hindu in Bangladesh. Frequent fake news peddlers Ambuj Bharadwaj and Panchjanya shared the image with the same claim.
What is the truth?
When reverse-searching the viral image, ‘The Daily Inqilab’ article in Bengali dated 3, February 2023 is found carrying the viral image. The article titled ‘In Khulna, classmates killed a school student demanding a ransom of Tk 30 lakh’ mentions that Gutudia Secondary School student Nirav Mandal, son of Shekhar Mandal was killed by his classmates in Bangladesh demanding a ransom of Tk 30 lakh. A total of six students were arrested in this incident.
Dhaka Times 24 article dated 3, February 2023 is also found carrying the viral image. This article mentions that five suspects – Sohel Molya (15), Pitu Mondal (15), Hirak Roy (15), sixth-class student Dipu Roy (12), and 10th class student Piyal Mandal (16) of Teligati village of Upazila have been arrested in this incident.
The Bangladesh Police News Desk mentions that Nirav’s father was called and demanded a ransom of 30 lakh Tk which he ignored and lodged a complaint at the police station. Later, Nirav was found dead. Initially, one student was arrested based on the mobile call Nirav’s father received and the other four were arrested based on the information the first provided. All the arrested are students of the same school.
Conclusion
It is found that five school students including 4 Hindus and 1 Muslim killed Nirav Mandal, a Hindu student of the same school demanding a ransom of 30 lahks Bangladeshi Taka (Tk). No communal angle is found in this incident.
