Rangpur mob violence: 8 cops suspended for negligence

Two sub-inspectors and six constables have been suspended over the mob beating that left two men dead in Taraganj upazila of Rangpur.

Rangpur Superintendent of Police Abu Sayem ordered the suspension yesterday afternoon on charges of negligence of duty.

The suspended cops are SIs Abu Jobayer and Safiqul Islam; constables Farikud Akhtar Jaman, Dhiraj Kumar Roy, Hasan Ali, Firoz Kabir, Moktar Hossain and Babul Chandra Roy of Taraganj Police Station.

According to district police sources, the eight were on patrol duty during the incident.

SI Abu Jobayer, the previous investigating officer of the murder case, has been removed from the probe, and OC (Investigation) Rafiqul Islam of Taraganj Police Station has been appointed as the new IO.

SP Abu Sayem confirmed the suspensions, saying further action will be taken against them following a departmental probe report.

The victims were Ruplal Robidas, 48, and his relative, Pradip Lal Robidas, 47. Ruplal worked as a cobbler at Taraganj Bazar, while Pradip drove a van.

Around 9:00pm on Saturday, Ruplal was returning home on Pradip's van. When they reached the Burirhat Bottola area in Sayar union, locals stopped them on suspicion of stealing the van and beat them to death.

Police arrived at the scene during the mob beating but left without rescuing the two men.

The next day, Ruplal's wife, Maloti Rani Robidas, filed a murder case with Taraganj Police Station against 700 unidentified people. Police later arrested four suspects identified from video footage.