A youth died after allegedly being beaten by unidentified individuals in Ishwardi Upazila of Pabna district.
The deceased, Mehdi Hasan Akib, 18, was the son of Md Anisur Rahman of Majdia Islampara village under Sara union.
Police and family members are yet to identify the attackers or determine the motive behind the assault.
According to family sources, Akib left home on Tuesday evening and remained missing overnight. At dawn on Wednesday, unidentified individuals left him injured in an auto-rickshaw at Ishwardi Upazila Health Complex.
After receiving primary treatment, doctors advised that he be transferred to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.
However, Akib died in an ambulance in Lalpur while being taken to the hospital.
His father, Anisur, said there were visible injury marks on Akib’s body and demanded a thorough investigation and exemplary punishment for those involved.
Ishwardi Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Asadur Rahman said there were no weapon-inflicted wounds on the body, but signs of physical assault were found.
“We have learned that there are marks of beating on his body, which may have caused his death,” the OC said, adding that the matter is under investigation.
Police are preparing to send the body to the Pabna General Hospital morgue for an autopsy.
According to locals, Akib was a supporter of Mehdi Hasan, former member secretary of Ishwardi Upazila Swechchhasebak Dal, and worked as the driver of Mehdi’s shallow-engine boat.
They also said rival groups known as “Mehdi Bahini” and “Kakon Bahini” have a long-running dispute over local dominance and control of the sand quarry in Sara and Islampara ghat areas.
It is primarily suspected that members of Kakon faction severely beat Akib before abandoning him at the hospital.
