TDS Desk:

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has said it has found no direct evidence that a Hindu garment worker lynched in Mymensingh’s Bhaluka upazila had made any remarks hurting religious sentiment, reports BBC Bangla.

A mob beat Dipu Chandra Das to death and later burned his dead body on 18 December, over allegations of making derogatory remarks about religion.

“If the victim had written something on Facebook, that would have been one matter. But now everyone is saying they did not personally hear him say anything like that. We have not found anyone who directly heard or saw him [committing blasphemy],” Md Shamsuzzaman, company commander of RAB in Mymensingh, told BBC Bangla.

He added that when the situation turned volatile, he was pushed outside in an attempt to protect the factory.

Bhaluka Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Zahidul Islam told BBC Bangla that a case has been filed over the killing.

He also dismissed as “completely false” claims on social media that the victim was taken from police custody and then beaten and burned by a mob.

“We were informed much later. He was taken directly from the factory and then killed,” he said.

In a statement issued on Friday (19 December), the interim government said it strongly condemns the killing of Dipu Chandra Das, adding, “There is no place for such violence in the new Bangladesh. No one involved in this heinous crime will be spared.”

Ten people had been detained as of yesterday afternoon in connection with the killing.

WHAT HAPPENED IN BHALUKA?

According to RAB, the victim, aged around 28, was a garment worker at Pioneer Knitwears and a resident of an area under Tarakanda Police Station in the district. He was forcibly taken out of the factory and killed on 18 December.

In an act of mob violence, an agitated crowd accused the victim of making derogatory remarks about the Prophet (PBUH) and religion and forcibly dragged him out of the factory at around 9pm, RAB said in a statement, adding that he was then beaten to death.

“Later, the body was hung from a tree on the divider of the Dhaka–Mymensingh highway at Jamirdia Square Masterbari bus stand and set on fire.”

RAB’s Md Shamsuzzaman said that when the situation spiralled out of control, factory officials handed the victim over to the alleged mob to protect the factory.

He added that while the incident occurred at around 5pm, police were informed only at about 8pm.

“Everyone we have questioned claims they heard that the man had made offensive remarks, but none of them personally heard or witnessed it,” Shamsuzzaman said.