Muradnagar mob lynching: Village silent, no case yet
Most men in village have gone into hiding fearing police action
More than a day after three members of a family were lynched by a mob in Cumilla's Muradnagar upazila, no case has been filed, no arrests made, and the village of Koroi Bari remains eerily deserted.
On Friday evening (4 july), the bodies of Roksana Begum Ruby, 47, her daughter Tasfia Akhter Jonaki, 29, and son Md Russel Mia, 40 were sent to their village for burial under police supervision after autopsies at Cumilla Medical College Hospital.
However, amid fears of further attacks, only one relative travelled with the corpses. Other family members, including the injured daughter Ruma Akhter, are being treated in hospital.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
The village itself has emptied out following Thursday's violence. Residents – mostly male – have gone into hiding, reportedly fearing police action. Security patrols by police and RAB continue, but roads are largely empty.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Bangra Bazar police station Mahfuzur Rahman confirmed on Friday night that the burial would take place under law enforcement presence and that a case was under process.
"So far, no suspects have been detained," he said.
The family of the deceased, however, is gripped with fear. "We're scared to return. They may kill us too," said Jonaki's husband Alomgir Hossain, speaking from Cumilla Medical College Hospital. He recounted escaping an attempted attack with his young daughter on Thursday.
The lynching stemmed from a long-simmering community dispute. Locals allege the family was involved in drugs and petty crime. Tensions escalated this week when a schoolteacher's mobile phone was reportedly snatched and the accused given shelter by Ruby's family. An arbitration was held Tuesday, during which a confrontation broke out. By Thursday, the situation exploded.
During a site visit related to road construction on Thursday morning, Akubpur union chairman Shimul Billal was allegedly assaulted by Ruby. Enraged, a crowd of 100 to 150 armed villagers stormed the family's multi-storey home, pelting bricks before breaking in.
Eyewitness Meem Akhter, Russel's wife, said her mother-in-law Ruby was the first to be killed. "Then they beat my sister-in-law to death outside. Finally, they dragged my husband from a closet. He pleaded for his life for the sake of our child. They didn't listen."
Meem said her father-in-law is now missing and she plans to file a case once safe.
Police said the family had been implicated in 43 criminal cases, including 30 against the three deceased.
