Mob barges into police office, beats teen for ‘defaming Prophet (SM)’ in Khulna

A mob barged into the office of Khulna Metropolitan Police (KMP) deputy commissioner in Sonadanga, Khulna on Wednesday night and beat up a 16-year-old boy, accusing him of defaming Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH).

The teenager is an 11th grader at Azam Khan Government Commerce College in Khulna.

KMP deputy commissioner (South) Tajul Islam told the media Wednesday night that the police assured the demonstrators of taking the boy to task through the court. But that did not quell the situation. The agitated mob beat up the boy.

Following this, rumours spread that the boy had died.

However, Tajul Islam told the media Thursday morning that the army members took the boy into their custody after the mob beat him up.

He further said police did not know what happened to the teenager.

Contacting the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Prothom Alo learned that the teenager was undergoing treatment at a hospital. Several army members sustained injuries while rescuing the boy, it added.

Members of the police and other law enforcement agencies and locals said that the teenager allegedly defamed the Prophet (PBUH) on Facebook Tuesday. When the teenager went to the coaching centre in Tutpara area of the town the next afternoon, his friends charged him and asked why he said that.

Learning the matter, the boy’s father went to the coaching centre. He went to the deputy commissioner’s office with his son and others. From there they were advised to go to the police.

The boy’s father and some students went to the office of KMP deputy commissioner (south) in the afternoon.

When the incident became known, the agitated crowd surrounded the office and started demonstrating.

Army and Navy personnel went there to handle the situation. They assured the prosecution of the accused through the law. But the agitated crowd did not stop.

The crowd broke through the gate and entered the commissioner’s office and beat up the teenager around 11:00 pm. At one stage, the police evicted the crowd.

The teenager was taken out of the police office by an army vehicle around 12:30 am.

Agitated people tried to intercept the army vehicle as well.

Meanwhile, an X (formerly Twitter) handle ‘Proshanto Mollik’ wrote on the social media, “Reports indicate that a radical Islamic group killed a teenage boy name Utsob Mondal in the presence of police, Bangladesh Army and Bangladesh Navy for criticizing Hazrat Mohammad (S). The biggest failure of Dr. Yunus' government to establish law and order.”