Mob beats 'extortionist' to death in Chattogram

Angry traders and locals yesterday morning beat a former Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leader to death, for alleged extortion, at Pahartali Railway Bazar in the port city.

The dead was identified as Md Mohiuddin Sohel, 35, son of Abdul Barek, from Chandpur, police sources said.  His father was a former sub-assistant engineer of the Bangladesh Railway east zone.

During the incident, agitated traders of the market, the second largest wholesale market in the port city, torched what they claimed was Sohel's “torture cell”. They also protested by keeping their shops closed for two hours, demanding an end to extortion.

Sohel was a former general secretary of BCL Chittagong Government Commerce College unit and was also a member of the BCL's central committee, Hasan Murad Biplob, a former vice president of the college's student union, told this correspondent. He added that Sohel had later gotten detached from political activities.

AKM Mohiuddin Selim, officer-in-charge (OC) of Double Mooring Police Station, said the incident took place around 10:00am. A chase and counter chase took place between the traders of the market and Sohel's followers.

He also said that police rescued Sohel and one of his aides around 11:00am. Sohel was taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) where he succumbed to his injuries, the OC said, adding that the traders claimed the incident was a protest against extortion.

A murder case would be lodged in this connection, the OC said.

Two other people, including local trader Osman Khan, who is also the joint secretary of the Chattogram unit Jatiya Party, were injured during the incident. They were also being treated at CMCH, Jahir Hossain, inspector (investigation) of Double Mooring Police Station, said.

According to witnesses and traders, Sohel had been extorting money from the traders and also the market-bound trucks with the help of several of his aides for the past year and a half.

He had allegedly grabbed several railway quarters in the adjoining area of the market and built an office there called MN-IP Foundation. Traders also alleged that Sohel used to take people into his “office” and torture them.

Shohel

They added that several of Sohel's aides around 9:00am picked up a vegetable vendor and took him to the office.

On information, some traders, led by Osman, went to the office at 9:30am to rescue the vendor.

As soon as they arrived, Sohel's aides attacked them with sharp weapons injuring Osman. A chase and counter chase then took place, said Nur Nabi Talukder, former joint secretary of Pahartali Railway Bazar Traders' Welfare Association.

After the attack, Osman immediately went to the traders' association office and made an announcement on loudspeakers informing people about the incident.

Infuriated traders then took to the street and surrounded the office. Agitated locals, who were also agitated by Sohel's unruly activities for long, joined the traders.

The angry mob entered the office and set it ablaze from the inside, said Arif Khan, a trader, adding that the people took Sohel and one of his aides out of the office and beat them up.

Former leaders of the traders' association, after a meeting with police officials, announced that they would open the shops at 12:30pm after a two hour-long shut-down.

Speaking to The Daily Star the traders said they were angry as their association's convener, also local ward councillor, Saber Ahmed did not appear at the scene.

Contacted, Saber said there was previous enmity between Sohel and Osman. He, however, admitted that Sohel had been engaged in extortion in the area and that Saber himself had filed complaints to the local administration several times in this regard.

Shamsul Alam Chowdhury, a former joint secretary of the association, said that the traders had become enraged as Sohel's extortion and other unruly activities had increased over the last six months.