Gang assaults 2 Cumilla NGO workers, blackmails them after forcefully stripping woman on video

A group of men reportedly assaulted two NGO workers  – a man and a woman – in Cumilla's Chandina, forcibly stripping the woman, recording the incident on video, and demanding a ransom for its deletion.

The attack took place on Monday (17 March) evening in a garden near the Tulatoli Dakkhinpara Dighi area of Chandina municipality.

Following the incident, one of the victims, Tarek Rahman, an NGO worker of Integrated Development Foundation's (IDF) Chandina branch, filed a case today (18 March), against four individuals.

Chandina Police Station Officer-in-Charge Nazmul Huda said the victims received medical treatment before filing the case. "Efforts are underway to arrest those involved."

Speaking to The Business Standard, Tarek said, "They [criminals] forcibly stripped my female colleague and recorded a video on a phone. They demanded Tk2 lakh in exchange for not leaking the footage.

"We managed to send them Tk20,000 via bKash, but they insisted that they would only delete the video after receiving the full amount. However, even after taking the money, they continued to assault her. After a while, locals chased the attackers away," he added.

According to locals, the two NGO workers were collecting loan payments in Tulatoli village when a group of men intercepted them. The attackers took them to a remote fish farm in Etbarpur Malibari, where they stole their money.

They later moved the victims to another location near Tulatoli Dakkhinpara Dighi, tied the male worker to a tree, beat and electrocuted him, while the female worker was stripped and physically assaulted.