A case was filed on Monday with Debhata police station, accusing nine people, including a union parishad member, of torturing wife of a rickshaw-puller at Garanbaria village in Debhata upazila the previous day.
Following the case filed by victim's husband Mukul Gazi, police arrested Afsar Ali, a member of Noapara Union Parishad (UP), in Satkhira town.
The other accused are Hayat Ali, Sobed Ali, Manirul Islam, Hafija Khatun, Momena Khatun, Ansar Ali, Ensan Ali, and Abdur Rashid of Garanbaria village.
Police quoting local people as saying that a group of people led by UP member Afsar Ali, Manirul Islam, Hafiza Khatun and Hayat Ali went to rickshaw-puller Mukul Gazi's thatched house on a roadside khas land at the village at around 11:00am on Sunday.
In a bid to take possession of the land, they asked Mukul Gazi and his wife Karima Khatun to leave the place. On refusal, the accused dragged Karima Khatun out of the house, tied her hands to an electric pole and tortured her.
Hearing screams, locals came to the spot and rescued Karima. They (locals) said UP member Afsar and his cohorts tried to capture the khas land, evicting the poor family.
Satkhira Police Superintendent (SP) Md Habibur Rahman Khan visited the spot Monday morning and ordered police to arrest the culprits.
Contacted, officer-in-charge (OC) of Debhata police station Mashiur Rahman said the rest of the accused have gone into hiding. Drive to arrest the culprits will continue, the OC added.
Source : The Daily Star
