Bank officer, wife among four beaten in Mymensingh over refusal to pay extortion

A bank officer, his wife, and two others have been allegedly beaten by a group of miscreants in Mymensingh for refusing to pay extortion and not buying construction materials from them. A CCTV footage of the attack has gone viral on social media. The victim family filed a written complaint with the police station on Monday afternoon, June 15.

Nazrul Islam, an employee of Janata Bank's Charpara branch originally from Sherpur, purchased four decimals of land in the Moynar Mor area about two years ago. He started constructing a five-story building there six to seven months ago.

According to the complaint, local strongman Saiful Islam and his associates had been demanding extortion and pressuring Nazrul to buy construction materials from them since the construction began. However, Nazrul continued with his work by purchasing materials of his choice, ignoring their demands. This angered the accused.

On Sunday afternoon, the accused again went to the under-construction building and pressured the family to buy materials from them. When Nazrul refused, the attackers struck around 6:10 pm.

Nazrul Islam, his wife Masuma Hayat, his brother Azizul Islam, and their neighbour, another bank officer named Sakim Ahmed, were seriously injured in the attack.

In the CCTV footage, several young men can be seen suddenly attacking the victims. More people later joined in the assault, some wielding sharp weapons.

Injured neighbour Sakim Ahmed said five to seven young men ran up and attacked without warning, and one of them struck him on the head with a sharp knife.

On Monday afternoon, Nazrul Islam filed a written complaint with the Kotwali Model Police Station, naming Saiful Islam as the prime accused along with several others.

OC Muhammad Shibirul Islam of Kotwali Model Police Station told the media that they have learned the attack stemmed from a dispute over the building construction. The written complaint has been received, and police operations are underway to arrest those involved.