Daijiworld Media Network - Dhaka
Dhaka, Sep 12: Amid growing concerns over the safety of minorities in Bangladesh, a 57-year-old Hindu journalist was found dead inside the bureau office of Bangladeshi daily _Samakal_ in Barisal district, local media reported.
The body of Pulak Chatterjee, former Barisal bureau chief of _Samakal_, was found hanging inside the newspaper’s office on Friday evening.
Confirming the incident, Al Mamun-ul Islam, officer-in-charge of Barisal Kotwali Model Police Station, said the exact cause of death would be known after the autopsy report.
According to local sources cited by _Dhaka Tribune_, Chatterjee had been dismissed from _Samakal_ around three years ago. He had also served as general secretary of the Barisal Press Club and had previously worked with Bangladeshi daily _Jugantor_ for several years.
He is survived by his wife and daughter.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s Awami League on Saturday raised questions over the circumstances surrounding Chatterjee’s death, claiming that a leaked photograph of his body suggested that the death may not have been natural.
“Both feet are on the ground, the knees are bent, and the body is almost upright. No one dies and falls in this position naturally. It has clearly been staged,” the party alleged, while questioning who may have staged the scene and why.
The Awami League also drew parallels with the period of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-Jamaat e Islami alliance government from 2001 to 2006, alleging that persecution of minority communities during that period was being repeated in Bangladesh in 2026.
The party alleged that attacks on temples, arson targeting homes, land grabbing, sexual violence against women and the forced displacement of Hindus were once again being witnessed.
“Pulak Chatterjee was a journalist during that period. He saw what happened, wrote about it, and remained a witness. Silencing him means attempting to silence history,” the party said.
The Awami League accused the BNP and Jamaat of allegedly repeating the events of 2001-06, describing suppression of minorities, repression of journalists and silencing dissenting voices as the three pillars of their rule.
“Pulak Chatterjee was a minority, a journalist, and the bureau chief of Samakal. In other words, he represented all three. Killing him means eliminating all three at once,” it alleged.
Expressing grave concern over Chatterjee’s death, the party said he had been a witness to a period when the BNP-Jamaat alliance allegedly persecuted minorities.
“Silencing him means silencing that testimony. But the truth cannot be buried. Pulak’s death has brought that truth even more forcefully into the spotlight,” it said.