A Dhaka court has placed one suspect on remand and sent another to jail in connection with the violent attack on Sohag Paribahan’s Malibagh office that left seven people injured.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Partha Bhadra on Friday granted one-day remand for Md Parvez, and ordered Zainal Abedin to jail in a case filed under attempted murder charges with Ramna Police Station.
The investigating officer of the case Inspector Mostafizur Rahman Nahid, produced the two accused before the court, seeking a five-day remand for Parvez and judicial custody for Zainal. The court partially granted the plea. The information was confirmed by Sub-Inspector Zinnat Ali of the prosecution division.
The two were arrested on Thursday in connection with the attack, which occurred on Wednesday night in front of Sohag Paribahan’s Malibagh ticket counter.
A video of the attack has gone viral on social media, showing a group of men armed with machetes, knives, and metal rods assaulting employees and vandalising the Sohag Paribahan office at around 11:07pm. Some of the attackers were seen cheering and clapping as others carried out the assault and ransacked the premises.
At one point, the attackers stormed the ticket counter, where one employee was beaten and cash were looted from a drawer.
According to the case statement, the conflict reportedly began when two men named Akash and Ruman were asked by Sohag Paribahan staff to smoke away from the counter. The men reacted angrily, and later returned with others under the leadership of Billal Hossain, a former leader of Swechchhasebak Dal in Ramna’s Ward-19.
Armed with sharp weapons, the group shattered the glass of the security booth outside the owner’s garage and launched an attack that injured Ali Hasan Talukder, a director of Sohag Paribahan and brother of the company owner, along with employees Masud, Hasan Tapon, Farhad Hossain, Naimur Rahman Adib, and another Masud.
The attackers also vandalised two ticket counters, causing damages estimated at Tk5 lakh and looted Tk17,570 in cash.
On September 4, Sohag Group’s security officer Dewan Md Al Amin filed a case with Ramna Police Station against 18 named individuals, including Billal Hossain, and another 18–20 unidentified persons.
Following the incident, Billal Hossain was expelled from the Swechchhasebak Dal.