Outrage in Dhaka over lynching of scrap trader: ‘Who gave you beasts the right to kill people?’

A viral video of the incident showed Lal Chand Sohag being lynched with chunks of concrete slabs and his attackers dancing on his body.

Published on: Jul 13, 2025, 09:15:21 IST

By HT News Desk

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Hundreds of students took to the streets in Bangladesh's Dhaka on Saturday over the lynching of a scrap trader as they accused the Interim government of failure to contain mob violence, reported PTI.

So far, five people have been arrested by the police in connection with the lynching. (Image for representation/Reuters)

Scrap material trader Sohag was lynched by alleged extortionists in front of the Mitford Hospital in the Old Dhaka area on Wednesday.

A video of the incident, which went viral the next day, showed Lal Chand Sohag being lynched with chunks of concrete slabs and his attackers dancing on his body after confirming his death, according to the news agency.

So far, five people have been arrested by the police in connection with the lynching.

Students across various university campuses in the capital organised protest rallies in response to the lynching incident.

Also Read | Sheikh Hasina ordered 'lethal' crackdown on Bangladesh student protests: Report

According to PTI, protests were held in Dhaka University and Jagannath University after Lal’s brutal murder video went viral and in private universities such as the BRAC University, NSU, East West University and government-run Eden College on Saturday.

“Who gave you beasts the right to kill people? What is the Interim (government) doing when extortionists are carrying out mayhem?” were some of the slogans chanted by students in their campuses, according to witnesses cited in local media reports.

Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo reported that at least 19 accused are named in the lynching case, while another 15-20 are mentioned as unidentified suspects.

Also Read | Rape of minority community woman in Bangladesh sparks outrage, main suspect arrested

BDNews24 reported that a group of activists from the youth front of former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) were allegedly behind the scrap dealer's murder.

The party has said that it has immediately expelled four perpetrators accused of lynching.

Since August 2024, Bangladesh has experienced a rise in mob killings following the violent overthrow of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s 16-year Awami League government.

On July 10, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council reported that minority communities experienced 2,442 incidents of communal violence over 330 days starting from August 4, 2024, when political unrest was at its height.

“Most of these violent incidents happened from August 4 to August 20 last year,” the platform of the minority communities said.

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HT News Desk
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