The killers of workers in Faridpur must face exemplary punishment

The names of Domain union parishad’s chairman Shah Asaduzzaman and UP member Ajit Kumar Biswas have appeared in the mob lynching of two construction workers in Faridpur’s Modhukhali. The workers were beaten to death in the rumor that they torched an idol in a nearby temple, no such evidence surfaced that can prove their culpability.

The workers were engaged in construction work in the nearby school when the cloth of the idol caught fire at Panchapalli in Dumain union. Without any evidence, a group of people attacked the workers in the school room and started beating them. UP chairman Asaduzzaman himself also took part in beating the workers. As several hundred angry mobs gathered there and the situation worsened, the UP chairman himself called law enforcers. By this time, the helpless construction workers Asadul Khan and Ashraful Khan were killed. UP chairman Asaduzzaman Khan is a leader of ruling Awami League’s Modhukhali upazila unit. Several leaders of the party said Asaduzzaman could have averted the incident had he wanted.

Asaduzzaman even accompanied religious affairs minister Md Faridul Haque Khan to the house of the slain construction workers. But he and UP member Ajit Kumar went into hiding when a video footage of the chairman himself beating the workers went viral. UP chairman Asaduzzaman left his mobile phone in his home. Did he do it to hide his location? Police conducted drives twice in Magura and Jashore but failed to nab chairman Asaduzzaman and member Ajit.

Asaduzzaman is allegedly involved with forming ‘Welcome Party’, a local gang, and controlling drug trafficking. He was also one of the prime accused in the case filed over attacking upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) over construction of government Ashrayan Project on 4 May, 2023. He was relieved from the UP chairman post on 9 May, only to be reinstated later by a court order. Asaduzzaman was also suspended once for corruption over the TCB card.

Faridpur’s deputy commissioner Kamrul Ahsan on Saturday told journalists that UP chairman Asaduzzaman became reckless after getting back his post despite being suspended twice. The DC also announced a reward for helping law enforcers catch the suspects.

The death of two workers in a mob beating is shocking. No words are enough to condemn the incident. There were even incidents of extortion over the construction work and the laborers stopped the work in the face of threats. Later the workers were returned from their houses and the work resumed. These incidents prove that the incident of mob lynching cannot be seen just as an isolated incident of public anger.

Protests and demonstrations were staged in different areas including Faridpur in protest of the killings. Some political parties also set deadlines to nab the killers. It is the government’s responsibility to apprehend the perpetrators. Also the local administration has to remain vigilant to ensure no groups can destabilize the peace in the area by fishing in troubled waters.

Let the killers and perpetrators be given exemplary punishment.