Man killed by mob in Chattogram was not an extortionist, family say

Former Awami League leader Mohiuddin Sohel, who was beaten to death by a mob for alleged extortion in Chattogram, was murdered in a premeditated way for his efforts to stop drug trading, his family say.

They came up with the claim at a news conference at the Chattogram Press Club on Tuesday, a day after an angry mob beat the 42-year old to death at a market in Pahartali.

“He was not an extortionist,” Sohel’s brother Shakirul Islam Shishir told journalists.

Sohel was murdered after he had started work to free Pahartali from drug and terrorism on the recommendation of his political mentor Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin, Shishir said.

He claimed that his brother uncovered several dens of drugs, which angered local councillor Saber Ahmed and Jatiya Party leader Osman Khan.

“My brother had no police case against him. He was murdered in a planned way. They tried to brand him as an extortionist for making his political career questionable,” Shishir said.

"If my brother died in a mob beating, why his body had 26 knife wounds?" he asked.

He demanded fair trial and punishment of those who are responsible for Sohel’s death.

For a long time, Sohel, along with his gang, used to extort money from each freight truck driver, traders in the area said.

On Sunday, he announced that the rate of extortion has been raised from Tk 50 to Tk 100, the local traders claimed.

Sohel and his people attacked Osman Khan and beat him on Monday, sparking anger among the shop owners and locals who later beat Sohel to death and injured one of his associates, the traders said.