KURIGRAM — Police were surrounded by a mob while attempting to arrest suspects in an assault case in Ulipur upazila, in an incident captured in a video that has spread on social media. The incident took place Sunday, March 15, at Ghorai Raghuray Jhakuapara in Durgapur union of the upazila.
In a 1-minute, 10-second video, police led by officer-in-charge Saeed Ibn Siddique can be seen being surrounded and prevented from leaving as a mob formed. A group of women and men confronted the officers and began shouting. As the situation grew tense, officers withdrew from the scene.
According to the complaint, a longstanding dispute over land and other matters had been going on between Mahabubar Rahman, 45, and his neighbor, freedom fighter Aziz Sarker, 70, both of Ghorai Raghuray Jhakuapara in Durgapur union. Multiple cases related to the dispute are pending in court.
On March 10, Mahabubar Rahman and his brother Mizanur Rahman, 30, led an attack on the freedom fighter’s home, where they assaulted his wife, Samsunnahar Begum, and daughter, Afrida Aziz Sathi, and molested them, broke furniture and stole money, according to the complaint.
Hazera Khatun, the freedom fighter’s daughter-in-law, filed a complaint with the police station. Police took up the case Sunday after their investigation confirmed the allegations.
Khatun said Mahabubar Rahman and his associates had been threatening the family to withdraw pending court cases. “My father-in-law is a stroke patient and cannot move around. My husband works outside the area, so there is no male member at home. Taking advantage of that, they have been intimidating the women of the household,” she said. She filed a case against Mahabubar Rahman and four others over the attack.
Reached by mobile phone, Mahabubar Rahman acknowledged police had come to his house but denied that any attack had occurred at the freedom fighter’s home. “We did not attack anyone’s house. Police filed a false case without any investigation. Police came twice in a row. They could not show any documents related to the case,” he said. Asked about the mob surrounding the officers, he said neighbors had gathered to protest because they considered the case false.
Saeed Ibn Siddique, the officer-in-charge of Ulipur police station, said the freedom fighter’s daughter-in-law filed a complaint on March 11. “The matter was then investigated and the allegations were found to be true. A case was filed at the police station on Sunday. When police went to make arrests, the accused mobilized women and hired men to form a mob in the area. At one point, the police had to leave the scene. I went there at 10 a.m. Sunday, and they again formed a mob and surrounded me. The matter has been reported to senior officers,” he said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report