Chhatra League Leader Babu Beaten and Thrown from 10-Story Building Roof Over Unpaid Painting Bill

❐ Staff Reporter

A Chhatra League leader named Salek Khan Babu (35) was beaten to death and then thrown from the roof of a 10-storey building in Hazaribagh in the capital. Sufia Begum (55), the mother of the deceased, described the incident in which he was thrown from the roof of the building after being tortured.

The incident took place on the afternoon of October 1 at Ali Manzil Bhaban No. 279/1 in Shankar-Jaffrabad area under Hazaribagh police station. After filing a murder case in this incident, Hazaribagh police arrested two people.

The deceased Salek Khan Babu was the former vice-president of the Dhaka Metropolitan North branch of the Chhatra League and the former general secretary of Ward No. 34 of Mohammadpur Police Station.

According to the complaint filed by the victim’s mother, Babu went to Ali Manzil in Rayerbazar’s Jafrabad area to collect the bill for the painting work at around 5:40 pm on October 1. There, Babu had an argument with security guard Badhon Chakma about something. As a result, Badhon hit Babu on the head with an iron angle lying nearby.

Hearing the screams of the seriously injured Babu, Milton, another security guard of the building, and some others gathered there and started beating him mercilessly again. Later, at around 6:10 pm, Milton and Badhon together caught the Chhatra League leader Babu and put him on the roof of the building and came down after a while. Then Babu was seen lying seriously injured on the tin roof on the south side of the building.

The victim’s mother alleged that he died while being rescued.

Upon receiving the information, Hazaribagh police reached the spot at around 9 pm and recovered Babu’s body from the tin roof of a garage on the south side of the building. They prepared a post-mortem report. Later, the body was sent to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy.

The deceased’s mother, Sufia Begum, said that the building’s caretaker Milton, Badhon Chakma and others first took her son to the second floor and beat him with an iron rod until he bled. Then, they threw him off the roof of the building.

In this incident, he filed a case with Hazaribagh Police Station against Md. Milton (42), Badhan Chakma (50) and 7-8 other unidentified people.

The deceased’s mother, Sufia Begum, also said, “My son was killed in a planned manner. He was involved in Awami League politics. He owed 3 lakh taka for the painting work bill on that building. The company paid him 1.5 lakh taka, but did not want to pay the rest. He was also threatened several times, saying that the Awami League would hand him over to the police.”

He also said that when he told a local BNP leader to recover the money, he also asked him to keep the matter under wraps without recovering the money. Later, my son told the company that if the Awami League comes to power one day, the money owed will have to be paid.

Babu had been taking care of the building for 17 years, and he was beaten to death and thrown from the roof of the same building.

His mother said with regret, “Babu had been looking after the building for the past 17 years. He had protected it from many extortionists, gangsters and terrorists. The security guards of that building beat my son and threw him off the roof to death. I want a fair trial from the state for the murder of my son.”

Hazaribagh Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mosharraf Hossain said, “The victim’s mother has filed a murder case with the police station in this incident. We have filed a case and arrested two people from the scene. Besides, an investigation is underway. Action will be taken as per the law.”