'Suspicion of mugging': Two foreigners beaten up in Bashundhara RA 

Locals beat up two foreigners today in the Bashundhara Residential Area gate on suspicion of mugging a man who had withdrawn a large sum of money from a nearby bank.

The foreign nationals, hailing from Iran, were injured in the attack and then taken to Kurmitola General Hospital for treatment, Officer-in-Charge of Bhatara Police Station Mazharul Islam told The Business Standard. 

The incident took place at around 1:45pm when locals present in front of the Abu Sayeed gate of the Jamuna Future Park suspected the foreigners used the "Devil's breath" drug and mugged the man who had just withdrawn about Tk2 lakh from the bank, the OC said.

The police official told TBS they initially learned that a local resident allegedly spotted the foreigners taking money from the man as he headed out of the bank.

"Upon confronting the foreign nationals, the duo got into their car and tried to drive away. The local resident shouted and drew the attention of others who then chased down the vehicle," OC Mazharul said. 

The agitated crowd then vandalised the car, and beat up the two men. 

A video of the incident was circulated on social media today after the incident took place, he said. 

"We are investigating what actually happened," added the police official.

A Bangladeshi citizen, who was with the suspected muggers, was reportedly assaulted as well. 

The foreigners identified themselves as Iranian tourists and said they had arrived in Bangladesh two days ago with plans to stay for a month.

According to the police, a call was made to the emergency hotline number 999 at the time of the incident with someone reporting that the foreigners had been involved in a fraud under the guise of a foreign currency exchange scheme, deceiving Bangladeshi citizens. In the meantime, the foreign nationals were held by an agitated crowd. The police were requested to intervene. 

Based on the information, a team from the Bhatara Police Station arrived at the scene, where they found hundreds of people assaulting the foreigners and two others. The vehicle they were traveling in had also been vandalised. The crowd dispersed after the police arrived. 

Meanwhile, several eyewitnesses who were at the scene could not confirm the exact cause of the incident. Faizul, a street vendor, said, "I saw people stop a car and two foreigners were pulled out and assaulted. A large crowd had gathered around them. The car was also vandalised at that time. Everyone was saying that they were caught while trying to rob someone."