UP member held for torturing 2 boys

Police today detained a union parishad member for torturing two boys who allegedly stole a goat in Durgapur upazila of Rajshahi.

The detainee, Abdul Motaleb, member of Jhaluka union parishad, tortured two boys after tying them to a tree for stealing a goat at Andua village, our Rajshahi correspondent reports quoting Moazzem Hossain Bhuiyan, superintendent of police in Rajshahi.

Law enforcers detained Motaleb from his home around 11:30am, the SP said.

Yesterday, villagers led by Motaleb “tortured” the two boys -- Jarjis Hossain of Hariapara and Ratan Ali of Polashbari villages --- who are students of class X of Amgachhi Sahar Banu High School in Durgapur.

However, the UP member denied the allegations of torture saying that the boys were tied to a tree as they were not confessing to the stealing.

Motaleb also said that UP Chairman Mozahar Ali Mollah and several other UP members were also present during the arbitration.

The duo was released after their families paid Tk 16,000 as fine, he said.

Of the money, Tk 2500 was given to Rezaul Karim, the goat owner, and the rest was donated to two local mosques, he said.

The goat of Rezaul Karim of the same village was stolen earlier on Tuesday night.

Later in the morning, a night guard of the village caught the boys with the goat at Harian Bazar.

Abdul Motaleb, Jhaluka Union Parishad member, took them to the village with the goat.