A 42-year-old van driver from Bangladesh’s minority Hindu community was found with his throat cut in a paddy field in the country’s north, police said.
The victim, Bipul Chandra Barman, was found in the Baro Majidpur area of Pirganj in Rangpur district late Monday night. His battery-powered van was also found near the body.
Barman, a resident of Bahadurpur village in Pirganj, was the son of the late Mahan Chandra Barman. He was the father of five daughters.
Family members said Barman owned no farmland and supported his family by cultivating leased land, working as a day laborer and driving his battery-powered van at night.
As usual, Barman left home with his van on Monday evening but did not return that night. His family learned of his death the following morning.
Local residents found his body in a paddy field near a road off the Rangpur-Dhaka highway in Baro Majidpur and informed police.
Police said several rice plants at the scene had been trampled or broken, indicating that a struggle may have taken place before Barman was killed.
Investigators are examining whether he was attacked during an attempted robbery of his van or killed for another reason. Police have yet to establish a motive for the killing.
The van was found at the scene, a detail investigators are considering as they try to determine the circumstances surrounding his death.
Police have not indicated that Barman’s killing was motivated by his religious identity.
Pirganj Police Station Inspector (Investigation) Tajul Islam said police were investigating the killing and working to identify and arrest those responsible.
Barman’s body was sent to a hospital morgue for an autopsy.
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