The incident occurred around eight o’clock on Thursday evening in the Char Kalibari area under the Charalgi Union of the upazila. According to local residents, police sources, and the victims, five armed youths entered the semi-constructed residence of an absentee migrant worker. The suspects have been identified as Sharif, son of Taher Uddin; Arif, son of Momin; Fahim; Rajib, twenty-three, son of Mofazzal; and Enamul, twenty-two, son of Nurul.

Upon entering the premises, the men asked the expatriate’s fourteen-year-old son for water. As the teenager approached the doorway carrying a jug and glass, the armed intruders seized him, dragged him outside, and tied him to a tree near the entrance under threat of violence. They then forced their way into the house, held the homeowner’s wife at knifepoint, and ransacked a wardrobe, making off with five lakh taka in cash alongside two bhoris of gold ornaments and other valuables valued at an estimated five lakh taka.

According to statements provided by the police and the victims, the assailants escalated their violence after the robbery. They held a machete to the bound teenager’s throat and dragged his mother out to where he was tethered, subsequently committing the assault in front of the child.

Allegations indicate that Rajib recorded the entire sequence on a mobile device. Before fleeing the scene, the gang warned the traumatised mother and son that they must pay an additional two lakh taka within three days, threatening to upload the footage to social media if the crime was reported.

Following the departure of the attackers, the victims’ cries alerted neighbours, who rushed to the scene and immediately notified Gafargaon Police Station. Responding swiftly, officers visited the location to assess the situation and launched an immediate manhunt.

Around three o’clock on Friday morning, police conducted a raid in an isolated area near the Char Kalibari Government Primary School, roughly a kilometre away from the crime scene. While four of the suspects managed to evade capture, twenty-three-year-old Rajib was successfully detained. Authorities stated that during the arrest, Rajib threw the mobile phone containing the video footage into a nearby body of water. Officers subsequently conducted a underwater search, recovered the device, and seized it as evidence.

The victim’s brother-in-law explained that following the marriage of their elder daughter, his sister-in-law had been living alone in the house with her son, who is a ninth-grade student. Expressing deep anguish over the brutality, the family filed a formal complaint at the local police station on Friday afternoon, demanding exemplary punishment for all involved parties.

Additional Superintendent of Police for the Gafargaon Circle, Montosh Biswas, confirmed that the victim has lodged a formal complaint naming five individuals. Based on her statement, two men participated directly in the assault while the others maintained watch outside. She also detailed the housebreaking, property damage, and theft of cash.

Biswas noted that the sole detained suspect is currently undergoing interrogation, and the recovered mobile phone will undergo forensic analysis. Investigators are awaiting medical examination reports and gathering further evidence to substantiate the claims, while efforts to apprehend the remaining fugitive suspects are actively underway.