A youth gang leader was hacked to death allegedly by members of a rival gang in the capital’s Mohammadpur area on Sunday afternoon.

The victim, known by his single name Emon, 30, was attacked on Pabna House Goli in the Rayerbazar area of Mohammadpur. He used to live in different slums in the area and was wanted in at least 18 cases filed with Mohammadpur police station, the police said.

Originally from Madaripur, Emon had been involved in criminal activities in the area for more than six years.

The police said that Emon was allegedly stabbed and  hacked to death by members of a rival group known as the ‘Arman gang’.

They said that they arrested three individuals, Rabbi, Tuhin, and Sayed, from the scene and seized three machetes, a cutter, and a steel sheet from their possession.

Mohammadpur police station officer-in-charge Mezbah Uddin said that the arrested individuals were members of the Arman gang and that the attack took place at about 4:15pm.

A video clip circulated on social media shows a group of four or five youths chasing Emon, eventually catching him on Pabna House Goli and hacking him indiscriminately.

The police said that they rushed to the scene immediately, arrested three suspects red-handed with sharp weapons, rescued the victim, and took him to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

The body has been kept at the hospital morgue for an autopsy, the OC said.

He added that most of the cases filed against Emon involved clashes, while he was also accused in murder and anti-terrorism cases. The first case against him was filed in 2021, although he had been a suspect in criminal activities even earlier.

OC Mezbah said the three arrested individuals were also facing multiple cases.

Local residents and the police said that Emon used to carry out criminal activities in the Mohammadpur and Rayerbazar areas.

They added that there had long been a rivalry between the Emon group and the Arman group over establishing dominance in the area.