Mob lynches 1 suspected mugger
Staff Correspondent
A mob beat up three people at Malibagh in the city yesterday killing one after the three allegedly attempted to mug Tk 9 lakh of officials from a garment factory firing and injuring two of them.The two injured suspected muggers and the two garment officials were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for treatment. DMCH sources said the dead suspected mugger Shajidul Islam Biltu, 32, was the son of a retired deputy secretary. Dipu Chowdhury, 38, the other injured suspected mugger claimed to be the son of Hasan Chowdhury, owner of a shopping complex. The other suspect is Abul Kalam Azad, 42. Even though the suspects claimed themselves to be innocent, witnesses said they saw Biltu and Dipu shooting at the garment factory officials while mugging them. They said a gang of five muggers, three in a car, attacked Waylid Zafar, Mohiuddin and five other employees of Bonny Apparels Pvt Ltd around 11:30am as the officials were returning from a bank to their factory on foot at DIT Road in Malibagh. The gang shot Zafar and Mohiuddin and snatched one of the bags they were carrying which contained a portion of the money. The garment officials said four officials were carrying the money, and they could not confirm how much of the money was snatched. "We are still not sure about the exact amount of money missing," said Syed Fariduddin, managing director of Bonny Apparels. Trying to escape quickly with the loot, the muggers rammed a rickshaw near Malibagh Bazar prompting a police patrol team to rush to the accident scene. Police said sensing the law enforcers' presence Biltu and Azad fired two shots at them while Dipu was sitting in the driver's seat. Police along with locals blockaded the road and caught three men out of the five. The two others of the gang however managed to dodge police arrest. Hundreds of locals turned violent and started beating the three up. The mob beat Biltu to death. Police claimed they seized two revolvers and a pistol with eight bullets from their possession and a bag that contained Tk 74,000. Abul Kalam admitted to reporters that he was involved in the mugging. Dipu however said muggers ran into his car and he was an innocent victim of the situation. He said he knows nothing about the mugging. Deceased Biltu's brother Saiful Islam Ratan told reporters at DMCH that his brother was innocent and a victim of the situation. He said his brother had completed masters' in business administration three years ago in Australia.
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