Mob beating brings Fayez's rickshaw to stop forever

It was late at night. After a hard day's work, rickshaw puller Md. Fayez Ahmed was supposed to be heading home. Instead, a crowd gathered around him that night. Accused of being a drug user, he was brutally beaten with sticks and iron rods. At one point, the attackers left him bleeding by the roadside and walked away. Local residents later rescued him and took him to a hospital, but he could not be saved.

A false accusation, a mob and a merciless beating brought the life of a working man to an end. The attack on Fayez Ahmed took place around midnight on June 11, first near the eastern side of Shaktala Siddiquia Alia Madrasa in Sonaimuri, Noakhali, and later on a road beside Nodona Achia Government Primary School.

The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) has taken two members of an alleged teen gang into custody in connection with the mob killing of rickshaw puller Fayez Ahmed, who was accused of drug use. Investigators identified the two as members of the gang.

PBI Noakhali District Superintendent of Police R. M. Foyzur Rahman said both teenagers were produced before a court on Sunday and gave confessional statements under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

According to PBI sources, Fayez Ahmed was brutally attacked between 11 p.m. on June 11 and 1:35 a.m. the following day, first near the eastern side of Shaktala Siddiquia Alia Madrasa and later on the road beside Nodona Achia Government Primary School.

He was falsely branded a drug user over a longstanding personal enmity. A group of 10 to 12 people then surrounded him and formed a mob. They repeatedly beat him with sticks and iron rods before leaving him seriously injured on the road.

Local residents rescued the bloodied man and took him to Sonaimuri Upazila Health Complex, where the attending physician declared him dead.

Following the incident, the victim's elder son, Rezaul Karim Badsha, filed a case with Sonaimuri Police Station. The complaint named 11 people, including Sabuj, 22, Mona, 25, and Jamal. After the case was included in the PBI's investigation schedule, the PBI's Noakhali district unit took over the investigation on its own initiative on August 25.

The PBI investigation has uncovered further disturbing information. According to investigators, Shraban and Fahim had formed a teenage gang comprising youths from their own area and neighboring localities. They are accused of creating fear in the area, fomenting disorder and disrupting public peace by inciting mob violence.

Preliminary findings indicate that Fayez was deliberately branded a drug user and a mob was organized against him because of a previous dispute. Members of the teenage gang and their associates then beat him to death, investigators said.

R. M. Foyzur Rahman, PBI Noakhali District Superintendent of Police and the officer supervising the investigation, told Agamir Shomoy that investigators used information technology and intelligence inputs to conduct a raid in Shaktala village early Sunday morning. During the operation, they took two teenagers allegedly involved in the incident—Ashraful Islam Shraban, 16, and Akbar Hossain Fahim, 17—into custody. They were later produced before a court, where both gave confessional statements under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

He said the two teenagers had not been named in the original case complaint, but the investigation had found evidence of their involvement.

“The investigation has also identified seven to eight other people who may have been involved in the incident but were not named in the case complaint. Operations to arrest them are continuing. We are also examining whether anyone else was involved. In addition, the involvement of those named in the complaint is being verified, and necessary legal action will be taken accordingly,” the PBI official said.