Tension and ethnic violence in Khagracherri town of CHT, following rape of a tribal girl and lynching of the perpetrator teacher

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, October 2, 2024

Mounting ethnic tension has been reported from the Khagracherri district town of Chittagong hill-tracts in Bangladesh following the lynching to death of a Muslim teacher of Khagracherri Government Technical School and College named Abul Hasnat Mohammed Sohel Rana who had raped a tribal girl student. This had led to subsequent clashes involving tribal people and Muslim resettlers from the plainland on Tuesday as well as arsoning attacks by the Muslim resettlers who destroyed at least twenty business establishments owned by the ethnic tribals in the Pankhaiyapara and Mahajanapara areas of the town. Most of the business establishments included garment stores, beauty parlours and food outlets. Responding to the trouble the authorities clamped prohibitory order under Section 144 restricting movement of people in the entire district.

Sources from across the border said that the incident of rape had occurred within the college campus on Tuesday afternoon and what began as a protest by ethnic minority people soon spiralled into violence and the perpetrator AHM Sohel Rana was lynched to death. Sources said that Sohel Rana had earlier been arrested in the year 2021 on a similar charge of rape but managed to escape conviction in court owing to lack of hard evidence but yesterday he was caught and lynched to death. The entire Khagracherri district town and its outlying areas are currently under heavy security with army jawans and officers patrolling the affected and sensitive areas of the district town. There is a virtual shut-down in the entire town though some long-distance buses continued service today.The streets in the Khagracherri town wore a deserted look from this morning but only a few vehicles were sighted moving to and from one place to another.