Looking Back: September 19, 2024

Witness BD

🔲 Beaten to death in Dhaka University hall
🔲 Hill Bengali clashes begin in Khagrachari
🔲 Schoolgirl kidnapped with announcement

1. A group of students have been accused of beating a man to death after locking him in the guest room of Dhaka University’s Fazlul Haque Muslim Hall on suspicion of being a thief. The man died after being beaten repeatedly for several hours on Wednesday night. When some students took him to the hospital around 12 midnight yesterday, doctors declared him dead.

The deceased, Tofazzal Hossain (32), was a resident of Charduani village in the taluk of Kanthaltoli union in Patharghata upazila of Barguna. His father’s name was the late Abdur Rahman. He was the former president of the Chhatra League of his union. His relatives, neighbors and political leaders claimed that the young man had become mentally unbalanced due to the grief of the death of his parents and only elder brother.

Tofazzal’s cousin Asma Akhter Tania said, “Around 11:30 pm, someone called my father and said, Tofazzal has been caught stealing – now if you send 30,000 taka, he will be released. My father, unable to understand what he was saying, gave me the number. When I called that number, he demanded the same from me. Then I requested them, Tofazzal is mentally unstable, don’t let him die – if you suspect him, hand him over to the police station. They brutally killed my brother and left him in the hospital and fled.”

Videos and pictures of Tofazzal’s murder went viral on social media today. It can be seen that after beating him once, he was given food. While being fed, he was also asked about the quality of the food. After that, he was beaten again. 7/8 students of the university beat him silently, recorded the video, and some sat on the sofa and started talking among themselves.

People from all walks of life in the country have reacted strongly on social media to the description of the Tofazzal murder. In various posts on university-centered Facebook groups and their personal profiles, many students have demanded justice for this extrajudicial murder and exemplary punishment for the guilty. Some students also protested in the TSC area this morning in protest of the murder.

2. There has been a clash between hill people and Bengalis in Dighinala upazila of Khagrachhari district. The clash broke out in the Larma Square area around 5 pm today, Thursday. At one stage, it has been alleged that shops and houses of the hill people were set on fire.

According to a report by Prothom Alo, a man named Mohammad Mamun (30) was beaten up in the Noapara area of ​​Khagrachhari city on Wednesday morning on charges of stealing a motorcycle. Later, he was seriously injured after hitting an electric pole while trying to escape. He was taken to Sadar Hospital in this condition, where the doctor on duty declared him dead. Following this incident, Bengalis took out a protest procession in Dighinala at around 5 pm today.

Eyewitnesses said that around 5:00 PM, 300 to 400 Bengalis took out a protest procession from Jamtali and Boalkhali Bazar. They tried to go towards Larma Square. At that time, the hill people stopped them and a clash broke out. At least three people were injured in the clash. At one stage of the clash, about 37 houses and shops near Larma Square and Dighinala College were burnt down.

Many hill people’s Facebook posts allege that the army has helped Bengalis set fire to hill people’s houses and shops. In a video from the night, the sound of gunfire can be heard in the darkness.

3. A class 10 student was kidnapped in Phulbari, Kurigram. The incident took place on Wednesday afternoon in Kashipur Union of Phulbari Upazila. 30 Hindu families live in the village. On the night of September 2, the miscreants pasted posters on some trees in the neighborhood. It said, ‘The girl from this house will be taken away within 7 days and the girl will be converted to Islam.’

A resident of the village, Ranjit Chandra, filed a general diary (GD) with Phulbari Police Station on September 4. The posters were removed from the trees on the orders of Phulbari Upazila Executive Officer Rehenuma Tarannum.

Police and locals said that the student was abducted on his way home from a coaching center around 5 pm yesterday. The incident was committed by drug dealer Alinur Rahman (32), son of the deceased Abdul Halim of the village, and his accomplices.

The father of the kidnapped girl said, “My daughter is very focused on her studies. Alinur and some of his associates kidnapped her on her way home. I have filed a complaint with the police station.” He said, “We all panicked when we saw the threatening letter on the street of our village. The threat maker carried out his plan exactly. I want my daughter back.”

Phulbari Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Rehenuma Tarannum said she has heard about the matter. She has ordered the police to rescue the kidnapped schoolgirl and arrest the kidnappers and bring them to justice.

Source: Dhaka Tribune, September 19, 2024. The Daily Star, September 19, 2024.