Mob beat police constable terming him ‘pickpocket’

A police constable and his friend were assaulted by a mob in Narayanganj yesterday.
The victims are Abu Nur Shafiuzzaman, 55, a constable of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, and his friend, Md Razu, 45.
The incident took place around 11:00am at Sanarpar area of Narayangan’s Siddhirganj, said police.
Constable Shafiuzzaman told the reporters that they were waiting for a bus to Dhaka at Sanarpar Bus Stop on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway after visiting a friend’s house in Siddhirganj.
At that time a pickpocket tried to steal the constable’s mobile phone.
“When he [the pickpocket] took my phone from my pocket, I grabbed his hand. But, he started shouting and calling me and my friend pickpockets.”
“A mob gathered before we could say anything and started to beat the two of us. They didn’t stop beating even after I identified myself as a policeman and showed my ID card.”
On information, police from a nearby station rushed to the spot and took the victims to their custody, said locals.
They were given primary treatment at a local hospital later.
Al Mamun, officer-in-charge of Siddhirganj Police Station, told The Daily Star, “It was a misunderstanding. The police constable was on leave, a mob beat him and his friend by calling him ‘fake police’. We are looking into the matter.”
A filing of a case is underway over the incident, he added.