Armed Group Attacks Chittagong Construction Site After Extortion Demands
A group of armed assailants launched a violent attack on a 10-story construction site in the South Pahartali area of Chattogram on Sunday morning, reportedly retaliating after failing to extort 2 million taka from the property owner. The incident, which occurred around 8:00 a.m. near the Boro Dighirpar-Bhatiyari Link Road, has heightened local concerns regarding a resurgence of organized extortion targeting developers in the region.
According to witnesses and law enforcement, eight to ten masked individuals arrived at the site in a tempo vehicle and immediately confronted laborers working on the building. The attackers proceeded to vandalize the structure, smashing doors and windows, and assaulted several workers and a security guard. One laborer, identified as Hasan Saki, sustained injuries after being struck with a machete. Before fleeing the scene, the perpetrators detonated three improvised explosive devices, or crude bombs, creating panic in the residential area.
The building’s owner, Mohammad Jasim Uddin, who operates a wholesale business in the area, stated that he had been receiving extortion demands from unidentified individuals using foreign phone numbers for the past month. Despite reporting these threats to the police, the demands persisted. Uddin confirmed that he intends to file a formal legal complaint regarding the destruction of his property and the assault on his staff.
Local residents have expressed alarm, noting that this is not an isolated incident. Reports suggest that as many as eight to ten other construction projects in the Boro Dighirpar area have been targeted for extortion payments, a trend residents claim is unprecedented in their community.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the attack. Kazi Md. Tareq Aziz, Additional Superintendent of Police for the Hathazari Circle, confirmed that investigators are reviewing CCTV footage captured at the scene. He stated that police are actively working to identify and apprehend the suspects involved in the raid.
The attack follows a high-profile assault on July 13 at a local internet service provider, DDN, located on Chattogram’s Chawkbazar Access Road. In that incident, which resulted in the arrests of 20 individuals by police and the Rapid Action Battalion, a group of armed men vandalized office equipment and terrorized employees. While a suspect named Mubarak Hossain, alias Emon, was identified in the subsequent case filing, local fears persist as business owners grapple with a wave of intimidation that appears to be spreading across the city.
