Amid furore over the mob lynching of a Bangladeshi Hindu man, the garment factory that employed him has denied claims that it did not timely intervene to save the victim, Dipu Chandra Das. A senior police official probing the case had stated that a timely call could have saved Dipu’s life, but the firm did not make it.
Md Farhad Hossain Khan, superintendent of Industrial Police in Mymensingh, told Daily Star that by the time they were alerted, it was too late. “Hundreds of people were on the road, and it was very difficult to reach the place through the huge crowd. When we reached the factory gate, we saw the body being carried by a furious mob towards the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway. A 10-kilometre traffic jam was created for nearly three hours, seriously obstructing the movement of law enforcement agencies," said the SP.
He added that though the police had been in contact with the factory, no official has reached out to them yet.
However, the factory sources told Daily Star that they did everything to dissipate the situation. Sakib Mahmud, senior manager of Pioneer Knitwears, where Dipu worked, claimed that the workers started protesting inside the factory around 5:00pm, accusing Dipu of "hurting religious sentiments".
The factory officials immediately tried to calm the situation as there was no proof of the allegations. But the agitation continued. At one point, the factory manager arranged a “fake resignation” to control the situation, but the agitators refused. Dipu was then locked up in the factory’s security room, and police were called around 8 pm, three hours after the chaos broke out.
On why they waited for three hours, the management said they tried to tackle the situation inside the factory. However, as it was time for shift change, more workers gathered in front of the factory along with local people as the news leaked.
Around 8:45 pm, the mob broke into the factory and dragged Dipu outside. The local residents also joined the assault, killing him on the spot. They subsequently set his body on fire. The manager also rubbished claims that they handed over Dipu to the mob for the safety of the factory.
However, the police has claimed that there was no evidence was found indicating that Dipu had written anything on Facebook that might have hurt religious sentiments.
He further said, "When the situation became volatile, he was forcibly pushed out of the factory to protect the factory."
