Police have arrested two people after a murder case was filed over the lynching of a man in Satkhira’s Debhata upazila following allegations that he had hurt religious sentiments.
Abdul Jalil Sana, elder brother of victim Wahiduzzaman Shamim, filed the case at Debhata Police Station around 11pm on Thursday naming one Fazlul Haque Amini as the prime accused, along with nine others. Another 200-250 unidentified people have also been accused.
The two arrested accused are Mostar Hossain Khan, 53, son of the late Mahtab Uddin Khan of Subarnabad village, and Asadul Islam Molla, 45, son of Rahim Box Molla of Nazir’s Gher area.
Both are residents of Debhata upazila and are listed as the fifth and sixth accused in the case.
Debhata Police Station Officer-in-Charge HM Shaheen said police were conducting drives to arrest the remaining accused.
According to the officer, Shamim was beaten by a mob twice on Tuesday. Police rescued him after the first attack and admitted him to Debhata Upazila Health Complex.
At around 9pm, a group identifying itself as Tawhidi Janata, allegedly led by Amini, arrived at the hospital in a procession and assaulted Shamim again. He was later taken to Satkhira Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
The OC said the identities of the remaining accused could not be disclosed at this stage for the sake of the investigation. He also alleged that Amini had used Facebook Live to mobilise people with the intention of killing Shamim.
Amini was reportedly on the run after the case was filed on Thursday night.
Attacks followed allegations of religious insult
Shamim, 40, was the son of the late Shamsur Rahman of Bara Shanta village in Debhata. Amini is the son of Ruhul Amin of South Parulia village in the same upazila.
According to local residents, Amini went live on Facebook and called on people to gather after accusing Shamim of hurting religious sentiments. Tensions had already escalated after an audio recording containing remarks attributed to Shamim, described by some as anti-Islamic, circulated in the area.
The first attack took place while Shamim was receiving treatment at the chamber of a village doctor named Sabur in the Kuliya area. Shamim had reportedly fallen ill after ingesting poison.
After Shamim’s death, Amini claimed that Shamim had repeatedly made objectionable remarks about Allah, the Prophet and Islam, including when speaking to neighbours and others.
“Tawhidi Janata beat him and sent him out of this world,” Amini reportedly said following the incident.
However, Shamim’s elder brother, Abdul Jalil Sana, gave a different account of the events leading to the killing.
Jalil said his brother, whom he described as suffering from a mental illness, had an argument with his wife on Monday evening and used abusive language. A local person later circulated an audio recording of the incident on social media.
Amini subsequently accused Shamim of insulting religion and called on people to gather through a Facebook Live broadcast, Jalil alleged.
He said an angry crowd vandalised the gate of Shamim’s house, took him to Subarnabad Bazar and beat him.
On Tuesday night, Amini and others allegedly dragged Shamim out of the doctor’s chamber while he was receiving treatment and assaulted him again. Police rescued him and took him to Sakhipur Health Complex, Jalil said.
Later, more than 1,000 people allegedly gathered at Sakhipur Hospital for a second round of attacks under Amini’s leadership. The attackers slammed Shamim against a wall, took him outside and beat him indiscriminately before leaving him, according to his brother.
Police then took Shamim to Satkhira Medical College Hospital, where he was declared dead.
Jalil alleged that a mob had taken the law into its own hands and killed his brother.
Social media posts fuel outrage
Audio clips, videos and posts circulating on social media over the past two days have accused Amini of playing a leading role in organising the crowd and inciting violence against Shamim.
According to allegations circulating online, Amini acknowledged through social media broadcasts and posts that he had called on Tawhidi Janata to gather. He was also reportedly heard in an audio message challenging the authorities to arrest him, saying he would not be deterred even if he faced imprisonment, persecution or the death penalty.
The alleged statements and the lack of immediate visible legal action against him prompted criticism on social media.
Many users questioned why the alleged instigator had not been arrested despite the circulation of the audio and video materials.
Police, however, said the investigation is ongoing and that efforts were underway to arrest the remaining accused.
Shamim’s younger brother, Tahsiv Rahman Sagar, a member of the district referees’ association and president of the managing committee of Subarnabad Government Primary School, said the funeral prayers were held after the Isha prayer on Wednesday night. Shamim was buried afterwards.
He leaves behind two sons. His elder son is 12 years old, while the younger one is between seven and eight months old.
