A Chhatra League leader died after falling from a 10-storey building in Dhaka’s Hazaribagh, prompting his family to allege that he had been assaulted and thrown from the rooftop.
The deceased was identified as Salek Khan Babu, 35. His mother, Sufia Begum, 55, has accused several people of beating her son before allegedly pushing him from the roof of Ali Manzil. A murder case has been filed over the incident, and police have arrested two people.
The incident occurred on Thursday, 1 October, at Ali Manzil, a 10-storey building at 279/1 in the Shankar-Jafrabad area of Hazaribagh.
According to the first information report filed by Babu’s mother, an argument broke out between Babu and a security guard named Badhan at around 5:40pm. The dispute reportedly escalated into a physical confrontation, during which Badhan allegedly struck Babu on the head with an iron angle.
The complaint states that Babu cried out after being injured. Another security guard, identified as Milton, and several others then allegedly gathered at the scene and assaulted him.
At around 6:10pm, Milton reportedly took Babu to the rooftop of the building. They came back downstairs after some time. Babu was subsequently found lying in a critical condition on a tin roof on the southern side of the building. His mother has alleged that he died while efforts were being made to rescue him.
Police went to the scene after receiving information later that night. Officers recovered Babu’s body from the tin roof of a garage on a plot beside the southern side of the building. They prepared a preliminary report at the scene before sending the body to the mortuary of Dhaka Medical College Hospital for a post-mortem examination.
Sufia Begum has alleged that the building’s caretaker, Milton, security guard Badhan Chakma and several others took her son to the second floor and repeatedly beat him with iron rods. She further alleged that they subsequently took him to the rooftop and threw him from the building.
The case filed by Babu’s mother names Milton, 42, Badhan Chakma, 50, and seven to eight unidentified people as accused. The allegations are part of the case and have yet to be established through the investigation.
Hazaribagh police station officer-in-charge Mosharraf Hossain said Babu’s mother had filed a murder case in connection with the death. Two people had been arrested from the scene, he said, adding that the investigation was continuing.
Police are examining the circumstances surrounding the reported altercation, Babu’s subsequent movement to the rooftop and his fall from the building. The post-mortem examination is also expected to provide evidence about the cause of death and the nature of any injuries he may have sustained.
The investigation will determine whether the death resulted from an accidental fall or whether, as alleged by the victim’s family, he was assaulted and deliberately thrown from the building.
