All on suspicion

Hapless boys Ramzan Ali and Jony tied to a tree as part of brutal torture to recover a cellphone. The incident happened at Damodar village in Phultala upazila of Khulna district on Monday evening. Photo: STAR

A jute mill worker tied two hapless boys to a tree and beat them severely, suspecting their involvement in the theft of his cellphone at Damodar village under Phultala upazila of Khulna district on Monday.
The victims, Jony, 11, and Ramzan Ali, 10, collect waste papers from different places of Khulna city and Phultala upazila and earn their livelihood by selling it.
Mohsin Ali, a worker of Alim Jute Mills, caught the two boys in Phultala ghat area at around 6:30pm. He took the boys to Damodar village, tied them to a tree and beat up severely.
Later, Mohsin took the boys to his house at the village with their hands tied up with rope and kept them confined to a room. As the boys were crying out for help, Mohsin released them at around 7:30pm. He also fled away seeing a large number of people rushing to his house.
The two boys are now undergoing treatment at Phultala Hospital. Habib Molla, father of Ramzan, and Rafiqul Islam, father of Jony, have demanded arrest of and exemplary punishment to Mohsin for beating up their innocent sons. Both are day labourers at Skid ghat in Khulna.
According to Habib Molla and Rafiqul Islam, their sons collect waste papers and broken bottles from dawn to dusk from different areas of Khulna city and Phultala upazila. They go to Phultala by any available train after 2:00pm everyday to collect waste papers and other unused things from mill areas and godowns to earn some money by selling them.