A youth was allegedly beaten to death over a theft attempt at a school in the city’s Pologround area on Sunday, with his family alleging that he was also given electric shocks during the assault.

The deceased was Md Jainal, 27, son of late Md Dulal of Dhaniyalapara Chhoto Masjid area under Double Mooring police station in port city.

The police said that the incident took place at about 11:30am at Railway Public High School, when Jainal allegedly tried to steal a computer by removing glass of a window behind the headmaster’s room and reaching through the grille.

Witnesses and police said that two school guards, Azad and Samir Das, caught him red-handed and beat him. As word of the incident spread, locals gathered at the scene and Jainal was later found critically injured in front of the school’s main gate.

On information, Kotwali police rushed to the spot and the situation turned tense as Jainal’s relatives also arrived and became agitated, obstructing police from taking the body into their vehicle.

After nearly half an hour, police brought the situation under control, recovered the body and sent it to Chittagong Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy.

Jainal’s mother, Chenoara Begum, who rushed to the scene, said that her son could have been tried in court had he committed any offence and should not have been killed this way.

She alleged that her son was given electric shocks during the beating, which led to his death, and demanded justice over the killing.

‘When police went to recover the body, his relatives became agitated but were convinced and the body was sent to hospital for post-mortem examination,’ Kotwali station officer-in-charge Abu Zayed Md Nazmun Nur said.

He said that two school security guards, Azad and Samir, had been detained for questioning over their suspected involvement in the incident.

Regarding the allegation of electric shock, he said that it would only be possible to confirm the claim after receiving the autopsy report.