Body of Narayanganj union council member found. Police say a mob beat him to death

Locals told police Md Sohel was involved in extortion, but his family claims he was killed because he opposed the local drug trade

Police say locals have beaten a union council member to death after tying up his hands and feet in Narayanganj’s Araihazar.

The incident occurred in Brahmandi Union’s Baliapara area on Monday morning, according to Khondoker Nasir Uddin, chief of Araihazar Police Station.

The dead man has been identified as Md Sohel, 38, a local resident and the representative of Ward No. 3 on the Brahmandi Union Parishad.

Nasir said that police recovered Sohel’s bound body from the Bottola Bus Stand area after the incident was reported around 9:30am. There were many injury marks on his body and his face was heavily bruised.

An initial investigation found that a new market is under construction in the area, according to Nasir. Sohel allegedly demanded a bribe from the market’s owner and local resident Sharif Hossain on Monday morning.

Members of Sharif’s family argued with Sohel. Locals then joined together to detain Sohel.

“Md Sohel, aka Sohel Member, was involved in criminal activities. Locals were very angry at him. Because of this, they joined together, tied him up, and beat him to death,” Nasir said.

But Sohel’s family claims the allegations of extortion are false. They claim Sohel was killed in a pre-meditated manner because he had opposed the local drug trade.

Sohel’s sister-in-law Jannat Akhter said that Sohel left home when he received a call on his phone at 7am. The family received word of his death about an hour and a half later.

“The extortion allegations against him are completely false. Sohel Bhai had begun to speak out against some local drug traffickers. That is why he was killed in a pre-meditated murder,” she said.

It was not possible to get a statement from Sohel’s wife as she was fainting repeatedly after hearing of her husband’s death.

Attempts were made to get a comment from market owner Sharif as well, but he could not be reached on his mobile number.

Locals say that Sohel was involved in Awami League politics at one point and was even an executive member of the ward unit of the party.

At one time, Sohel was an avid supporter of former Narayanganj-2 MP Nazrul Islam Babu, but the two eventually became embroiled in a feud. Sohel’s house was allegedly torched in October 2023 in connection with the feud. Sohel had accused local Jubo League and Chhatra League activists and leaders of involvement in the arson attack.

Two Baliapara residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Sohel had gone into hiding after the fall of the Awami League government in August last year. However, he came out of hiding after he made connections to local BNP leaders.

Because of these connections, he had been moving about in the area freely for the past few months. On Sept 8, agitated locals set fire to his house again due to his involvement in criminal activities.

Nasir admitted that Sohel’s house had been torched recently, but said no case had been filed at the police station over the incident.

He said at least 15 cases had been filed against Sohel on charges related to drugs, robbery, and extortion. On Jun 13, a RAB-11 raid had arrested him from Cumilla’s Daudkandi area. He was later released on bail.

Sohel’s body has been sent to Narayanganj General Hospital for autopsy and legal action is being taken over the incident, the police official said.

This is the second mob lynching reported in Brahmandi Union this month. On Sept 8, 42-year-old Md Aynal Hossain, a resident of Prabharkardi village, was beaten to death near his house.

Aynal was accused in at least eight cases, including on charges of robbery and rape, police said.