Teen killed in mob violence on theft allegation, 2 others injured

A 15-year-old boy was beaten to death, and two others injured in an attack carried out by a mob of seven to eight people in Chattogram's Fatikchhari upazila early today.

The deceased, Md Rihan Uddin Mahin, was the son of Muhammad Lokman of Sagar Ali Talukdar Bari in Kanchannagar area of the upazila. Locals said Rihan used to help his father in their grocery shop.

Fatikchhari Police Station's Officer-in-Charge (OC) Nur Ahmed said two suspects -- Noman, 23, and Azad, 35 -- were detained for questioning from the area.

Rihan's friends, Muhammad Manik and Muhammad Rahat, were admitted to a hospital with critical injuries.

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The incident took place between 3:30am to 6:00am at the Chengar Bridge in Ward 5 of the union when the teenagers were returning home after visiting Chattogram city the previous day, according to police and locals.

Witnesses said a group of seven to eight young men chased the three teenagers, shouting "thieves".

The three boys took shelter on the roof of an under construction building. However, the attackers dragged them down, tied them with ropes on the bridge, and mercilessly beat them, said witnesses.

Rihan died on the spot, while locals and police rescued the two injured boys and rushed them to a nearby hospital, ‍said Sub-Inspector Faruk Hossain of Fatikchhari Police Station.

He told The Daily Star that locals confirmed there had been no incidents of theft in the area at the time of the attack. He said the victims and the attackers are from the same locality.

He further added, "Locals have confirmed the three teenagers were tied to the railing of a bridge and beaten from around 4:00am to 6:00am. After being informed, we went to the spot, recovered the body, rescued the injured and sent them to a hospital."

Before police arrived, the perpetrators fled the scene. However, some residents of the area and local journalists who had gathered there identified some of them, SI Faruk said.

"Based on information from the two detainees, we hope to arrest the culprits and ascertain the real motive," the SI added.

Rihan's body was sent to Chattogram Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy, said Nur Ahmed, OC of Fatikchhari Police Station.

He said, "Since the attackers were from the same locality, it seems unlikely to be a random mob beating over theft suspicion. We believe an earlier conflict triggered the attack."

He said the mother of the deceased was at the police station to file a case.

Anwar Hossain Sumon, uncle of injured Rahat, said, "Rahat is a 10th grader at a local school. He and two of his friends had gone on a trip to Cox's Bazar. Around 2:30am, after getting off a bus in Chattogram city's Oxygen area, they hired a CNG-run autorickshaw to return home."

He added, "The three boys' homes are within a kilometre of the spot. The family of Mahin had a long-standing conflict with the family of detained suspect Azad."