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Published : 12 Jul 2025, 10:52 PM
Lal Chand, alias Md Sohag, had a job before he decided to start a business a few years ago.
His decision became the root of a growing conflict. Some people began demanding a share of the business profits, or a monthly payment of Tk 200,000.
When Sohag refused to comply, the conflict between him and those seeking to extort him began to escalate.
He got a call on Wednesday to discuss a solution. When he disagreed with their proposal, the attackers crushed his head and body with a concrete block, killing him on the spot.
Sohag’s wife, Lucky Begum, spoke in a tear-stricken voice on Saturday. She said she was devastated by the loss of her husband, who also left behind a son and a daughter.
She said, “For a long time, the killers had been trying to extort my husband's shop. They demanded Tk 200,000 every month, which my husband did not want to pay. That’s why he was brutally murdered.”
On Friday, two days after the incident, a video of the incident went viral on social media sparking widespread criticism across the country.
Protests are underway demanding justice for those involved in the incident.
Relatives brought the body of 39-year-old Sohag from Dhaka to Barguna Sadar Upazila on Friday morning. He was buried next to his mother's grave in Islampur village.
On Thursday, the victim’s sister, Manjuara Begum, lodged a murder case against 19 people at the Kotwali Police Station.
On Saturday morning, locals bustled around Sohag’s home. No one knew how to console his family.
Abdus Salam, Sohag’s brother-in-law, said that initially, Sohag worked for a while, but later earned a living by running a shop called Messrs. Sohana Metal outside Mitford Hospital.
Since his mother's death, Sohag had been living with his wife and children in Dhaka’s Jinjira Kadamtali Keraniganj Model Town.
At one point, Sohag's business was locked up because he refused to pay the extortion money.
On Wednesday afternoon, Sohag was summoned from his home in Dhaka, detained, and pressured repeatedly.
When he refused to pay, Sohag was killed in public in front of Gate No. 3 of Mitford Hospital in the afternoon.
Manjuara said, "My brother was in business for about 10 to 15 years. Every month, he was required to pay a ransom of Tk 200,000. The accused also wanted to take over his business.”
Police have announced the arrest of five people in connection with the murder, Lalbagh Division Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mohammad Jasim Uddin said at a media briefing at the DMP Media Center on Saturday.
Mahmudul Hasan Mohin, 41, and Tarek Rahman Robin, 22, were arrested first. A foreign-made pistol was recovered from Robin.
On Friday, RAB arrested two suspects identified with single names -- Alamgir, 28, and Monir, known as “Lomba Monir”, 32 -- from Ibn Sina Hospital in Keraniganj.
That night, police arrested another suspect, Titon Gazi, 32.
Meanwhile, describing the incident as "sad", Home Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said: "We have already brought five people to book for this. Yesterday, RAB arrested two, DMP arrested two, today they have arrested one."
BNP has announced the expulsion of five people from Jubo Dal, Swechchhasebak Dal, and Chhatra Dal involved in the incident.
