Deepto TV officer beaten to death over flat dispute

Tanzil Jahan Islam Tamim, a broadcasting officer at Deepto TV, has been beaten to death over a dispute concerning an apartment in the capital’s Hatirjheel area.

On Thursday morning (October 10), the incident occurred at an eighth-floor flat of a building on Road No. 4, Block D, in Mohanagar project. Tamim was reportedly beaten and injured. Later, he was taken to Monowara Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Police have confirmed the arrest of three people in connection with the incident.

Sub-inspector (SI) Rajib Hossain of Hatirjheel Police Station confirmed the incident, stating that Tamim’s body was recovered from Monowara Hospital around 2:15 PM. After completing legal formalities, the body was sent to the morgue at Dhaka Medical College in the afternoon for an autopsy.

According to SI Rajib Hossain, Tamim’s family stated that there had been an ongoing dispute between them and a developer company, Pleasant Properties, over the allocation of apartments in a building constructed on their land. As part of the agreement, the family was supposed to receive five apartments but were given only two. Of the remaining three, one had been sold to Md. Mamun, a deputy director of the Department of Narcotics Control. A settlement regarding the remaining two apartments had reportedly been reached the day before, allowing work to proceed in the flats.

However, on Thursday morning, Latif Mirza, the Chief Accountant of the developer company, along with Mamun, local BNP leader Rabiul, and 20-25 others, arrived at the flat and ordered the construction work to stop. At one point, Tamim was assaulted, leading to his critical condition. He was later declared dead at the hospital.

Tamim’s maternal uncle, Masud Karim, added that the dispute had been simmering due to the developer’s failure to provide the agreed-upon apartments, and the physical attack on Tamim was linked to this ongoing conflict.

Tamim's father, Sultan, said that Mamun, the Deputy Director of the Department of Narcotics Control, was also involved in the conflict over the possession of the flat, in collaboration with the developer company. According to him, they used criminals to hold the flat and landowners hostage and forcibly took over the apartments. Sultan also mentioned that Solaiman, the father-in-law of former Additional Commissioner of Detective Branch (DB) Harun, worked at the Department of Narcotics Control, and with his assistance, Mamun repeatedly halted construction work on the apartments.

Sultan claimed that despite seeking police assistance several times, they did not receive help. "We were attacked on multiple occasions, but the police refused to even register our General Diary (GD). Just the night before the incident, we went to the police station fearing an attack, but the officer-in-charge (OC) dismissed our concerns and told us to inform them if any attack occurred. Today, when we informed them about the attack, police arrived about 20 minutes later. When they arrived, they spoke with the developer company’s people but did not communicate with us. Even when we tried to take my injured son to the hospital, the police delayed the process," Sultan added.

However, Rabiul Alam, the owner of Pleasant Properties and a BNP leader, denied the allegation that people were sent to attack Tanzil Jahan Islam Tamim.

Meanwhile, Sultan’s claim that he did not receive help from the police has been denied by Saiful Islam, the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Hatirjheel Police Station.

Speaking to the media, OC Saiful Islam said, "I personally went to the scene, and footage is being collected. We have already detained three individuals involved in the attack, and efforts are underway to arrest others responsible."

When asked who was involved in the attack on Tanzil, the OC responded, "It was people from Pleasant Properties Limited. We have detained three individuals, including their site engineer. A case will be filed against Pleasant Properties Limited."