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Bike accident turned into extortion case

Case statement ‘drafted by Rab’ implicates 8 Mirpur students; victim, witnesses term the case ‘false’
MUNTAKIM SAAD and SHAHEEN MOLLAH
A simple motorbike accident by a teenage boy in the capital’s Mirpur has been turned into an extortion case against eight school and college students for reasons the victim, his family and witnesses cannot explain.
In the evening of March 7, Abdul Barek was hit and injured by a teenage biker in front of Baitur Rahman Jame Mosjid in Mirpur 12.
The 60-year-old was first rushed to a nearby hospital and then to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation by locals, and he returned home the same night with his fractured left arm in a cast.
A case drafted by Rab-4 three days later tells a very different story, however.
The case makes no mention of the accident or the biker. Instead, it accuses five college students and three more teenagers, including two school-goers from the neighbourhood, of “beating, injuring and extorting Tk 40,500” from Barek, a tea vendor.
The accused include a 15-year-old son of Mohon Mia, who is allegedly a victim of enforced disappearance. Mohan Mia went missing in 2018 after a dispute over a piece of land in Mirpur 2 with a local man.
Mohon Mia’s father Jamsher Ali and locals suspect some Rab members sided with that man, and turned against Jamsher’s family and some locals.
Locals and the victims’ families also suspect Rab was influenced by an informant who wanted to “teach these boys a lesson” for the bike accident.
Barek’s son Nazmul Hossain Bappi, the plaintiff of the case, said he wanted to file a case over the accident, seeking compensation, and that he only signed the statement drawn up by Rab.
He also alleged that Rab kept him and five of the accused in the Rab-4 headquarters in Paikpara for about 24 hours, before they were all taken to Pallabi Police Station for Bappi to lodge the already drafted case and for the five students to be handover to the police.
Parvez Islam, officer-in-charge of Pallabi Police Station, declined to comment citing ongoing investigation.
Rab-4 Company Commander refuted all the allegations and said they acted properly.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Talking to The Daily Star recently, Barek said he was returning home after buying some goods for his shop when the accident happened.
He said the biker, who was alone, could be aged around 15, and that he passed out after being hit.
“I later came to know that my son filed a case. I thought it was over the accident and that we would get some compensation… But later, the whole story changed,” he said.
According to the case statement, the accused came in front of Barek’s tea stall in Mirpur 12 on three motorbikes and demanded Tk 20,000. Refused, they beat him up with iron pipes, leaving him with a fractured arm and injuries to his head and other parts of the body.
A spot visit by The Daily Star found the accident spot is about a kilometre from the tea stall.
Barek said nothing in the case statement is true.
The case, filed on March 10, also states that the accused were members of “Sumon-Habib” gang involved in extortion and mugging in the area.
Locals said there was indeed one such gang, but the accused and their families denied they were involved with the group.
THE TWIST
“I later came to know that my son filed a case. I thought it was over the accident and that we would get some compensation… But later, the whole story changed.”
Abdul Barek, who was hit by a motorbike