Begged for life, yet the mob did not spare Ruplal and Pradip

Ruplal Das and Pradip Lal with their hands folded pleaded for their lives. But the hearts of those present did not soften.

Suspected of theft, the two were beaten to death. A video showing them begging with folded hands has been circulating across social media.

On Saturday night, the two men killed in mob beating at Battala area in Sayar Union of Taraganj Upazila in Rangpur, were Ruplal Das, 40, from Ghanirampur village in Kursha Union of Taraganj, and his relative Pradip Lal, 35, from Baluabhatta village in Mithapukur upazila.

The video shows several locals detaining Ruplal and Pradip along with a cycle van. A plastic sack was taken off the cycle van, and they were asked to say their names and identities.

At one point, when some people became agitated and tried to hit them, a young man named Mehedi Hasan intervened, suggesting they call the police.

Ruplal then said, “I am not a thief, nor a robber. I’m a cobbler. I repair shoes at Taraganj Bazar.”

But someone in the crowd shouted, “You’re more dangerous than thieves and robbers.”

Later, when Ruplal asked for a break to urinate, the agitated crowd assumed he was trying to escape and did not let him go.

After a while, he collapsed to the ground. At that time, Pradip Lal was sitting on the cycle van. People nearby remarked, “He’s drunk, he’s pretending to be sick.”

The video also shows a youth taking a plastic bottle out of the sack lying on the cycle van and smelling it. Shortly afterwards, the youth was heard saying, “Brother, please hold me,” before beginning to fall to the ground.

Two people carried him away and the crowd once again began beating Ruplal and Pradip.

When Ruplal and Pradip were rescued and taken to Taraganj Upazila Health Complex, the physicians on duty there declared Ruplal dead and referred Pradip Lal to Rangpur Medical College Hospital. Pradip died there around 4:00am.

Police prepared inquest reports at the scene and the hospital, then sent the bodies for post-mortem at Rangpur Medical College morgue. When Ruplal’s body reached his home around 6:30 pm, locals blocked the highway in protest.

Army and police personnel were seen patrolling the road while going to the scene of the incident, Battala, around 10:00 am in the morning today, Monday.

The sound of wailing was coming out of Ruplal’s home, as relatives and neighbours gathered there. Meanwhile, men in Burirhat Bazar which is at a short distance and surrounding villages have fled their homes. Most shops remained closed as well.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a young man from Dangapara village said, “It was around 9:30 pm, when news spread that two thieves had been caught while trying to snatch a cycle van by drugging its driver. When I reached there, hundreds had gathered already. Even though they were pleading with folded hands, no one listened. They were beaten and dragged to the Burirhat High School grounds. When they lost consciousness, they were left lying there.”

A businessman from Burirhat market, also speaking anonymously, said that about 10 to 12 days ago, a child named Irfan Babu was killed by having his throat slit to steal his cycle van. Three other theft and robbery incidents had taken place in the vicinity before that. Tensions had been rising in the area since then. Hearing that the thieves had been caught, angry locals rushed to beat them.

Following the incident, Ruplal’s wife, Bharati Rani filed a murder case with Taraganj police station on Sunday afternoon accusing 700 unidentified individuals. Using video analysis and digital technology, police arrested four people that same night. They are: Ebadat Hossain, 27, of Balapur village in Sayar Union, Mizanur Rahman, 22, of Rahimapur, with Akhtarul Islam, 45, and Rofiqul Islam, 33, from Burirhat.

Taraganj police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) MA Faruq said that four suspects had been arrested based on technology, video evidence, and information collected from locals. Efforts are ongoing to arrest the others involved. No one involved in the incident will escape justice, he warned.