Bogura district correspondent
It was around 8pm. The city was bustling as usual. Suddenly, a group of young men were seen dragging a teacher away and beating him. After some time, when the teacher asked for water, a bottle was handed to him. But instead of being allowed to drink, the water was poured over his head.
A large number of clinics and diagnostic centres have been established in an unplanned manner in Bogura city. Most of these facilities lack designated parking spaces. While a few have garages, they are practically of no use. As a result, traffic congestion has become a regular and distressing issue for the public.
A young man's unidentified body found floating in a river. A father beaten to death for refusing to marry off his teenage daughter to a 42-year-old man. Two police officers stabbed while attempting to arrest a convict. A family fleeing their home on Eid day with their sacrificial animal to escape a teenage gang’s wrath. Incidents of theft, abduction, and stabbings continue unabated. Even court premises are not safe. Altogether, Bogura appears increasingly trapped in a growing web of lawlessness and crime.
It was 9:00 pm., and a light drizzle had begun. At the sound of a knock on the door, Shapla Begum stepped out of her house, still shaken and gripped by fear. Her young son, Shakil, had been forcibly taken from her and subjected to brutal abuse. The horrifying cries and pleas of her seven-year-old still haunt her.
A growing wave of fear is sweeping through both cities and villages as teenage gangs emerge as a new face of lawlessness across Bangladesh. Once confined to urban backstreets, these groups have now spread their influence into rural communities, leaving ordinary people, law enforcement, and journalists increasingly vulnerable to violence.
Chhatra League (BCL) leader Faisal Hossain Kador had stepped out of his house just to check whether TCB (Trading Corporation of Bangladesh) products were being sold. He had no idea what was about to happen to him. As he reached the main road, Chhatra Dal leader Zubair saw him — and what followed was horrifying.