Schoolboy hacked to death in Gouripur, killer held

A schoolboy was hacked to death at Gagla village of Achintapur union in Gouripur upazila of the district on Monday night.

The deceased was identified as Rafiqul Islam, 10, son of day labourer Osman Gani of the village, and a student at Shahganj Government Primary School in the village.

Victim's mother Rumela Khatun lodged a case with Gouripur Police Station, accusing Shah Alam, son of Abdul Hekim of adjacent Nazirpur village.

Quoting the case statement, Md Akhtar Morshed, officer-in-charge of Gouripur Police Station, said Shah Alam had been pasting posters for Suraiya Akhtar, a female member candidate for reserved seat from Ward No-3 in Achintapur Union Parishad.

Shah Alam engaged Rafiqul to assist him in pasting the posters for Tk 100 per day, police said. Rafiqul had been working for four days but Shah Alam did not pay him for the work. They had an altercation as Rafiqul refused to work for Shah Alam and demanded his dues.

Following the altercation, Shah Alam allegedly hacked Rafiqul when he was returning home from local Shahganj Bazar, leaving him critically injured.

Rafiqul was rushed to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital where the on-duty doctors declared him dead at around 9:30pm.

As they came to know about the murder, fellow students brought out a protest procession in the area yesterday and attacked Shah Alam's house. At one stage, the students torched the house and Shah Alam came out to flee the scene.

The agitated students caught him after a long chase and handed him over to the police after beating him up, said the OC.

Shah Alam confessed to his involvement in the killing, the OC said. Police produced him before a Mymensingh court yesterday afternoon that recorded his statement under Section 164 and sent him to jail.

Fellow students yesterday formed a human chain and then took out a procession at Shahganj Bazar, demanding capital punishment to the killer.