Police have arrested a Jubo League leader in Noakhali’s Subarnachar on charges of brutally torturing an elderly man after he allegedly refused to pay extortion money for the construction of a mosque.
The septuagenarian from Dhaner Sheesh village had alerted authorities after a group of men tried to extort him for money, reports bdnews24.com.
But then on Friday, the miscreants beat him severely and pushed a torchlight through his rectum, said Debopriyo Das, chief of Charjabbar Police Station.
Doctors at the Noakhali General Hospital were able to surgically remove the torchlight from his body after a one-and-a-half-hour long procedure on Saturday. He is now out of danger, according to the hospital's Resident Medical Officer Syed Mohiuddin Abdul Azim.
The 72-year-old's son, who is also a local union council member, started a case on Sunday.
Eight suspects, including Charwapda Union Ward No. 9 Jubo League President Abul Hossain Sanaz, 45, and UP member Tanvir Hossain, 40, were named in the case along with eight unidentified suspects.
Sanaz has already been arrested, while police are conducting raids in several places to apprehend the other suspects.
According to the case statement, the old man had started building a mosque in the village and the suspects then demanded payment from him. But when he didn't pay up, the miscreants began to obstruct construction work.
The man then filed a complaint with a court, which instructed the police to investigate the matter. This seemed to enrage the miscreants further and they threatened to kill the old man. The alleged victim then wrote to the deputy commissioner and police superintendent, complaining about the suspects.
In reprisal, a group of eight to 10 men, led by Abul Hossain Sanaz, attacked the old man near the women’s madrasa at Sonapur Road at 12:30 am on Saturday while he was on his way home.
They accosted him with firearms and gagged his mouth with a towel before pinning him to the ground and raining blows on him.
The man allegedly fell unconscious when the attackers ‘inserted a torchlight through his rectum’, the case documents said. They later dumped him in the bushes and left.
After he regained consciousness, the man began screaming for help and was eventually spotted by locals. They then informed his son about his condition and he was later admitted to the Noakhali General Hospital.