An unidentified youth, estimated to be between 20 and 25 years of age, has allegedly been beaten to death on suspicion of theft by on-duty Ansar members at the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) office in Tejgaon, Dhaka.
The incident occurred on Tuesday at approximately 7:30am. The victim was brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) in an unconscious state, where doctors pronounced him dead at around 3:30pm.
Md Saiful Islam, an office assistant at the BTCL office who transported the youth to the hospital, reported that the victim had scaled the office boundary wall earlier that morning. According to Saiful, on-duty Ansar members apprehended the youth, tied him up, and beat him. Once the youth lost consciousness, they sent him to the hospital in a CNG auto-rickshaw, though no Ansar members accompanied the victim.
However, a man named Saikat Ali, who accompanied the body to the hospital and identified himself as a former platoon commander (PC) of Ansar, provided a different account of the events. Saikat said that he had come to the BTCL office a month ago for another task. According to his statement, the deceased and two or three accomplices had scaled the boundary wall in the morning to steal goods.
When the on-duty Ansar members chased them, the youth reportedly struck one of the Ansar members with a stick. While his companions fled, the Ansar members managed to apprehend the youth.
“After catching him, they took him to the camp, tied him up, and beat him,” Saikat said. He added that when the youth fell ill, he was sent to the hospital with Saikat, who denied any personal involvement in the assault. Saikat also claimed that thefts occur regularly at the office premises.
Dhaka Medical Police Camp In-Charge Inspector Md Habibur Rahman, citing medical authorities, confirmed that the body has been placed in the morgue for an autopsy. He said that there were multiple injury marks across the victim’s body.
The Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station has been formally notified of the incident.
