Students Killed by Mob
2 arrested
Police arrested two persons yesterday for their suspected link with the killing of six students in a mob attack on the city outskirt Aminbazar.
Sanwar Hossain, 28, and Mohammad Selim, 25 were shown arrested in a murder case after they were picked up from Aminbazar and Baradeshibazar, said Mahbubur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Savar Police Station.
He claimed the detained duo are drug peddlers.
But locals say Sanwar is the owner of a tea stall on Dhaka-Aricha highway while Selim is just a druggy.
During a visit, The Daily Star correspondent found Sanwar’s brother Zahir Hossain running the tea stall in his brother’s absence.
“Policemen had searched Sanwar’s house earlier but he was not there,” he said. “They later came to the shop around 5:00am [yesterday], when Sanwar was asleep, and picked him up.”
According to locals and police officers, around 300 law enforcers, including Rapid Action Battalion members, in 37 vehicles cordoned around Baradeshi village from 1:00am to 7:00am yesterday. They raided around 50 houses.
“Although people of different villages took part in the incident, now police are only raiding the houses of Baradeshi and also arresting its inhabitants,” said Mohammad Takiuddin, a villager.
OC Mahbubur Rahman, however, said they could catch only Sanwar and Selim as all other suspects are on the run.
A mob of several hundred villagers bludgeoned the six to death on Keblarchar of Baradeshi village early Monday on the Shab-e-Barat, suspecting them as robbers.
The law enforcers prepared a list of around 60 villagers who took part in the beating.
During the visit in the village in last three days, this correspondent found doors and windows of a large number of houses shut and locked. Very few people were seen.
Locals said most of the villagers of Baradeshi, mainly the males, went into hiding.
Meanwhile, several hundred students of Tejgaon College formed a human chain in front of the college around 11:00am yesterday demanding punishment to the killers of their fellow student Tipu Sultan, who was among the ill-fated six.
Of the other five, Towhidur Rahman Palash, Kamruzzaman Kanto and Ibrahim Khalil were of Mirpur Bangla College, Shams Rahim Shamam of Maple Leaf International School and Sitaf Jabi Munif was of Bangladesh University of Business and Technology.
Another youth, Al Amin, survived but suffered serious injuries.
Two cases were filed — one by local sand trader Abdul Malek and the other by police — following the incident.
In the case statement, Malek identifying the mob attack victims as robbers said four of the youths had extorted Tk 5,000 from him earlier on the Shab-e-Barat.
Sub-Inspector Anwar Hossain of Savar police filed the other case accusing five to six hundred unidentified villagers of killing the students.
-With The Daily Star input
