4 held over beating up contractor

Police arrested four people in connection with physically assaulting a contractor whose appeal for justice in a Facebook post went viral following the torture in Gulshan area on April 10.

The four arrestees -- Sajib Hossain, 36, Sefat Hossain, 24, Yusuf, 33 and Habib, 24,--were arrested from different areas of Badda on Saturday, said Kamruzzaman, officer-in-charge of Gulshan Police Station.

“We are trying to arrest the others involved in beating up contractor Md Omar,” he said.

The attack on Omar came to light after he posted a video on social media while in front of the Dhaka Power Distribution Company office in Gulshan after 10 to 12 men beat him up for extortion that day.

“Brother, this is the DPDC office where I have been doing business [as contractor] for 20 years….I recently got a work order for Tk 90 lakh through the e-tender process. Local extortionists demanded Tk 5 lakh from me. When I refused to give it to them, the goons took me out of the office and beat me up mercilessly…,” Omar said, as he cried in the video seeking Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's attention.

Blood pouring out from a head wound could be seen in the video.

“I was beaten like a dog,” he said and demanded justice.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Omar yesterday said that the goons came into his office and asked for the money, when he refused, they dragged him out of the office while beating him with belts and sticks. Once outside, they beat him more for a couple of minutes before they left. In the attack, he sustained a head injury for which he needed two stitches.

He added that the Ansar personnel who were present at the spot did nothing while the goons beat him.

“I am feeling insecure as the main culprit Riad is still out of the hook,” he said. 

Omar, who claimed to be joint secretary of Awami League's Ward No 30 unit, said Riad had been giving him death threats to extort Tk 5 lakh since the work order from DPDC came in early February.

“Riad was the one who led the attack,” he said.

Omar filed a case with Gulshan Police Station accusing Riad, 28, and some unnamed people hours after the attack.