Rahman, 42, a poor farmer from Hasanpur village in Bagmara upazila, Rajshahi, is one of many, who were tortured by Bangla Bhai and his men. The tortures of Bangla Bhai left him maimed and still haunt him even after 22 months.

"They tied my legs with a rope, hanged me upside down in a tree and started hitting me. They beat me until my legs and hands were broken," Rahman told The Daily Star yesterday at Bangladesh Rehabilitation Centre for Trauma (BRCT) in Dhaka.

Fazlur Rahman has become almost handicapped with nine bolts and one steel rod in his legs. All the fingers of his hands were broken and have been bent permanently. He cannot do any work and sold all his farmland to bear the expenses of treatment. He needs a lot of money more to be cured.

Armed with machetes, iron rods, bamboos and hockey sticks, 20 JMB thugs led by Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai picked him up at Hasanpur on April 20, 2004.

Just three weeks earlier, Bangla Bhai started his operation publicly and set up a camp in Bagmara under the banner of Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB).

"I was going to Union Health Centre in my village along with my wife and three daughters. They showed up by motorbikes and took me to the house of Ramzan Kaya at Hamir Kechchha and confined me in a room," Rahman said.

It was around 9:00 in the night when some men of Bangla Bhai got Rahman out of the house and asked him if he knew them.

He replied in the affirmative as he had already heard of JMJB and its activities. He recalled Ataur Rahman Sunny, Prof Lutfar, a teacher of Atrai College, and some cadres including Afzal, Akram, Amzad, Nazrul, Khokan, Mostak, Monzu, Siddique, Jahangir, Jalil and Saiful were around him.

"You are a Sarbohara [outlaw]. Where is your arms and ammunition?" Bangla Bhai asked him.

"I am just a poor farmer and a supporter of Awami League. I never worked for any underground party," he replied.

"No, we know you are a Sarbohara and you must admit it to us." As Rahman continued denying the allegation and begging for life, Bangla Bhai demanded a ransom of Tk 2 lakh.

"I said I did not have such an amount. Then Bangla Bhai first hit me on my head and shoulder by a hockey stick," Rahman continued his horrors with tears in his eyes.

As other armed zealots joined the beating, Rahman soon fainted. He regained consciousness at the balcony of the house in the morning when one of the fanatics shook him hard.

"They hanged me upside down with a bamboo tripod and again started beating up me."

Hearing his cries, people from neighbouring houses rushed to the scene but did not dare raise a protest.

Sunny, brother of JMB chief Abdur Rahman, and Shahidul, nephew of Bangla Bhai hit him the most. Finally, they left him by Bagmara Police Station.

Ruhul Amin, an official of the police station, rescued him and sent him to the upazila health complex.

The police held some of the bigots after filing a case but all of them walked out of jail on bail.

"Still I don't dare return to my village. I'm staying at the house of my maternal uncle in Rajshahi City. The JMJB has been banned, but its members are still threatening my family to withdraw the case."