Hardware trader hacked to death in Moulvibazar over unpaid bribe

BD Digest Desk

A hardware trader named Shah Faizur Rahman Rubel (45) was killed in a sharp-edged attack by miscreants on Shamshernagar Road in Moulvibazar Municipality. Neighboring traders said he was killed for not paying a bribe.

He was attacked at his business establishment on Thursday evening, August 7. He died on the way to the hospital with serious injuries.

The deceased Rubel is the owner of a well-known hardware company in Moulvibazar town, ‘Sadaipati F Rahman Trading’ and a resident of Gobindapur village in Kadipur union of Kulaura upazila.

According to local sources, Rubel was working at his shop sometime after evening when a group of miscreants entered the shop and hacked him to death. Hearing his screams, traders and CNG drivers from the nearby shop rushed to the spot and the attackers fled.

A CNG driver who witnessed the incident said, “Hearing the screams, I ran and saw Rubel Bhai lying in a bloody state. We rescued him and took him to Moulvibazar Sadar Hospital.”

Doctors at the hospital said his condition was critical and quickly sent him to Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital. However, he died on the way to Sylhet.

The deceased’s brother-in-law, Emon Tarafdar, said, “Dulabhai had been doing business in the city for a long time. He may have had some previous enmity with someone. We believe that he was killed because of that enmity.”

Businessmen in the area are not opening up about this. Some businessmen, who asked not to be named, have indicated that this is the work of local politically influential extortionists. They said that extortionists and political goons have emerged in the area since August 5 last year.

Moulvibazar Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Gazi Mahbubur Rahman said, “We visited the scene after receiving the news. An investigation has been launched to find out the cause of the murder. Legal action will be taken soon after identifying the culprits.”

The body of the deceased has been kept at Sylhet Osmani Medical College for autopsy.

Following the incident, businessmen and locals in the city held a protest march to protest the killing and demanded the immediate arrest of the culprits.