At least 30 people, including the superintendent of police and an officer-in-charge, were injured on Tuesday in a clash with villagers following the recovery of a missing seven-year-old girl’s body at Aditmari upazila in the district.
The girl had been missing since Monday morning and the police had allegedly refused to record a general diary over the missing child, local people alleged.
The violent clash also resulted in the vandalism of at least 10 vehicles, including those belonging to the deputy commissioner, the SP, and journalists.
Law enforcement personnel fired teargas shells and sound grenades during the hour-long clash with the inhabitants of Folimari village.
Aditmari Police Station Officer-in-Charge Nazmul Haque was withdrawn and attached to the police lines for negligence, following allegations that he refused to file a general diary over the missing child hours after she had gone missing on Monday.
OC Nazmul reportedly refused to search for the missing child as well.
On Tuesday morning, local residents grew suspicious of freshly disturbed soil in a corn field near the victim’s home.
Upon digging, they discovered Nandini’s body wrapped in a sack and buried underground.
Preliminary assessments by the police suggest the child was raped before being murdered.
As news of the brutal murder spread, the village erupted into fury.
The angry villagers marched to the house of the prime suspect, a neighbour named Bidhan Chandra, and set it on fire, reducing several rooms and household belongings to ashes.
Bidhan allegedly had a dispute over land with the victim’s father.
In the afternoon, SP Asaduzzaman arrived at the scene accompanied by additional police force and Border Guard Bangladesh members to restore order.
The crowd grew more aggressive and launched a sudden, coordinated attack on the law enforcers, pelting stones and smashing vehicle windows.
Police arrested the suspect Bidhan and another individual, whose identity was not immediately disclosed.
While a heavy deployment of police and BGB forces temporarily quieted the village, an atmosphere of intense panic was prevailing, leaving many homes deserted as residents fled out of fear of mass arrests.
SP Asaduzzaman said that no one involved in either the child’s murder or the subsequent riot will be spared.
