Two women and a man were arrested on Tuesday in Rajshahi on charges of torturing three people, including two sisters, after confining them in a cold storage.
Two of the arrested are the son and daughter of former Rajshahi Zila Parishad chairman and Awami League leader Mohammad Ali Sarker, said the police and local people.
The victims are a 30-year-old woman, her 13-year-old sister and their 27-year-old male cousin who is a medical student, all residents of Kuthipara village of Paba upazila in the district.
The police and witnesses said that Mohammad Ali鈥檚 son Ahsan Uddin Sarker Jiko, 45, daughter Akhi, 35, and relative Habiba, 40, locked the victims in an office room of Sarker Cold Storage in Baya area in Paba on Tuesday morning and severely beat them with sticks and bamboo, hit them with hammers and also pricked their body with safety pins.
Hearing screams, locals gathered outside the office but were initially prevented from entering.
On information, the Airport police which covers Paba upazila, rushed to the spot, rescued the three and sent them to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.
The victim woman, who had her infant child with her, was seen limping with blood oozing from her ears, while her male cousin bore deep wounds on his arms and back and there was blood all over her sister鈥檚 lips.
The woman told reporters that her family had long ties with Mohammad Ali Sarker which his children disapproved of.
Local Awami League leader Mohammad Ali, whose family owns the cold storage, went into hiding after the fall of the Awami League regime on August 5 in 2024.
鈥楾hey suspected me of having an illicit relation with their father,鈥� the woman said.
鈥業n the morning, they called me over phone and asked me to come to the cold storage. When I went with my cousin and younger sister, they locked us in, seized our phone and then beat us mercilessly,鈥� she said.
The teenage girl said that Mohammad Ali鈥檚 daughters repeatedly pricked her and her sister鈥檚 body with safety pins.
As angry locals confined Ali鈥檚 children inside the cold storage and staged a demonstration demanding their immediate arrest, the police delayed moving them for fear of mob attack.
At one stage, local people vandalised CCTV cameras and windows of the cold storage at around 2:00pm.
Later on, army personnel also rushed to the spot when the police took the detained three to the Airport police station.
Faruk Hossain, officer-in-charge of the Airport police under the Rajshahi Metropolitan Police, said that the brother of the medical student filed a case and they arrested the three accused.
鈥楾he accused will be sent to jail through a court in the evening,鈥� he said in the afternoon.
