A late-night altercation at a hotel bar in Cox’s Bazar has left two young men dead, with one reportedly killed in a stabbing and the other dying in hospital after being beaten by relatives of the first victim.
The incident took place at around 11.30pm on Thursday at the bar of the Renaissance Hotel in the Jhautola area of Cox’s Bazar town. The deceased have been identified as 28-year-old Nazibul Haque, a resident of Nuniarcharra, and Salman Mia, also 28, from the BGB Camp area of the town.
According to police and hotel authorities, Nazibul and Salman were close friends. They had gone to the hotel bar with three other friends that night to drink alcohol. At some point, an argument broke out among the group over an unspecified matter.
The disagreement reportedly escalated, and Salman allegedly attacked Nazibul repeatedly with a knife. Nazibul sustained severe injuries and died at the scene.
News of the stabbing quickly reached Nazibul’s relatives in Nuniarcharra. They went to the hotel and subsequently took Salman away towards the area, assaulting him on the way, according to the police.
After being informed about the incident, police located and detained Salman. He was taken to the 250-bed Cox’s Bazar District Sadar Hospital at about 1am as he had sustained injuries in the assault. As his condition deteriorated, doctors referred him to Chattogram Medical College Hospital for advanced treatment. He died there while receiving treatment on Friday morning.
A senior police official said the initial investigation indicated that the stabbing followed an argument among the men while they were drinking at the hotel bar. The same official confirmed that Salman, who had been detained after being assaulted by Nazibul’s relatives, later died in hospital.
Police have launched an investigation into both stages of the incident — the stabbing inside the hotel and the subsequent assault on Salman. Investigators are examining CCTV footage from the premises and speaking to hotel employees and others who were present at the time.
The hotel bar has also been closed temporarily while police collect evidence and complete other investigative formalities. Authorities are examining its security arrangements as part of the inquiry.
Police are also trying to establish whether anyone else was directly involved in the confrontation. The accounts of the three other friends who were with Nazibul and Salman are expected to be relevant to determining how the argument began and how it escalated into violence.
Sheikh Mohammad Ali, officer-in-charge of Cox’s Bazar Sadar Police Station, said Salman had been identified by police as a leader of a teenage gang. He also had several cases filed against him at the police station, including allegations relating to robbery.
The deaths have added a second dimension to an already serious criminal investigation. While Nazibul’s death is being investigated as a fatal stabbing, police are separately examining the circumstances in which Salman was assaulted after the incident and subsequently died in hospital.
Authorities said necessary legal proceedings were being taken and that further action would follow as investigators establish the precise sequence of events and identify anyone else found to have been involved.
