Six Bangladeshis have been murdered in South Africa in the last 20 days in Johannesburg, Free State, Eastern Cape, Cape Town provinces and areas.
Two Bangladeshis were killed on Monday and Tuesday of this week. In addition, in the last week of June, four expatriates were killed in various ways in the African nation.
On Tuesday (July 11) morning, a group of gunmen shot expatriate Nazmul Hossain at his business organization in the Leiden Delph area of Cape Town and fled. He was a hailer of Dudhmukha area of Daganbhuiya upazila of Feni district.
Earlier, on Monday (July 10), a Bangladeshi named Shamim was shot dead by robbers in Johannesburg`s Pasturas area. The expatriates said that terrorists fired at Shamim from outside the shop without receiving the extortion money and he was shot in the head and died on the spot. His home is in Shibchar upazila of Madaripur district.
On June 26, a Bangladeshi named Reagan Islam was shot dead in Busabelo, Free State Province. Eyewitnesses said that the terrorists, who were already on the spot, shot and killed them and left. They believe Reagan was a victim of target killing.
Before that, on June 25, around 7:30 p.m., a group of robbers entered a shop in the neighborhood of Stakesprit town in the Eastern Cape Province, shot and killed an expatriate named Abdul Mateen, and fleed with cash and valuables. His hometown is in Sirajganj district. He had been doing business in that area for a long time.
Also, after the evening of June 24, an expatriate named Maksudur Rahman Mohsin was shot and killed when he tried to stop a robbery at a Bangladeshi-owned shop in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. His country house is said to be in Daudkandi upazila of Comilla district.
Later that same evening in Suweto, Johannesburg, an elderly Bangladeshi, a well-known face of the community, Mohammad Haroon, was shot dead by robbers in his shop. He is a hailer of Basurhat in Noakhali district.
Regarding the deaths of expatriates, Anis Rahman, a Bangladeshi community leader said that the expatriates should move carefully.
“The situation has become very difficult now. We are supporting as many expatriates as possible to send the dead body to the country and prosecute the case,” he added.
Meanwhile, due to the recent increase in Bangladeshi murders in South Africa, panic has spread among expatriates living in the country.