NAOGAON — Police in Naogaon’s Patnitala upazila are investigating the death of a young man whose body was found hanging from a tree hours after he pleaded for help on Facebook Live, officials said.
The victim, Sumon Hossain, was the son of the late Moyen Uddin of Bil Chhara village. Police said unidentified attackers killed Sumon as he was returning home Monday night (Nov. 17) and hung him from a tree by the neck in the Napit Pakura area. Locals later recovered the body and brought him to the upazila health complex, where a doctor on duty declared him dead.
Ruhul Amin and Rubel Hossain, residents of the same area, said: “We four were sitting together that night. Around 10 p.m. Sumon called us and said, ‘Brother, save me.’ When we asked what was wrong, he said: ‘A man named Bulbul has demanded 10 lakh taka from me and is chasing me to kill me. He has eight to 10 men with him carrying sticks and knives.’ He said many times on the phone, ‘Bulbul will kill me, brother. He is chasing me with a knife. I am lying inside the paddy field and calling. Save me somehow.’ Then around 10:30 p.m. we found him hanging by a rope from a jackfruit tree at Napit Pakura. When we took him to the hospital, the doctor declared him dead.”
Maruf Mustafa, a member of the Patnitala upazila Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, said Sumon was a fourth-year degree student at Najipur Government College. “Before his death, he sought justice from the students and the public on Facebook Live. His mysterious death came after this statement. This was entirely a murder. We demand the highest punishment, the death penalty, for those involved,” Mustafa said.
Sumon ran a computer and photocopy shop at the Najipur Mosque Market for a living. About 12 hours earlier, a Facebook account in the name of “Sumon Hossain” went live with comments. In the 5-minute, 46-second audio, it was alleged that Sumon had borrowed 70,000 taka on interest from a man named Bulbul. Blank bank checks and signatures on stamps were also taken from him. But Bulbul later began pressuring him for 10 lakh 45,000 taka, the recording said. At one point the night before, Sumon was chased on his way home after withdrawing 10 lakh taka from his business. The recording held Bulbul responsible for his death.
Shah Mohammad Enayetur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Patnitala police station, said the body was recovered in the morning and sent to Naogaon General Hospital for an autopsy. The incident is being investigated, he said.
He added that authorities were verifying whether the Facebook account actually belonged to Sumon and whether the audio on the live broadcast was his voice. Police were also trying to determine whether Sumon had any financial dealings with a person named Bulbul, he said. The real mystery would be revealed once these facts came to light, he said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report