Auto-rickshaw driver beaten to death, 1 held

A CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver was beaten to death following an altercation over a trivial matter in the port city’s Bayezid area on Wednesday night.

The victim was identified as Khurshid Alam, 51, police said, adding that the incident took place at Middapara of Muradnagar Lane-1 between 11:10pm and 11:40pm.

Police arrested one of the accused, Shamsul Alam, 36, yesterday morning.

Video footage of the incident that spread on social media shows two people dragging Khurshid from a shop into a lane as they got into an altercation.

As the two started punching him, Khurshid tried to flee but was stopped by another person. The third person then held Khurshid’s hands, and at one stage, one person struck the back of his head, causing him to fall to the ground.

Upon receiving a call to 999, a police patrol team arrived and took Khurshid to Chittagong Medical College Hospital, where he died.

Reviewing the video footage and witness accounts, Sub-inspector Ashraful Alam of Bayezid Police Station said Khurshid had gone to a garage in the area in search of work.

When he was about to return home, he bumped into a local resident, Mohammad Hossain, 43, who rebuked him, leading to the altercation, the SI said.

The victim’s wife has filed a case with the police station.