Pabna farm laborer dies following alleged assault by local opposition politician

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A 50-year-old agricultural laborer died in Pabna’s Bhangura upazila on Saturday evening, hours after he was allegedly assaulted by a local Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader. The victim, Jamil Hossain, was a resident of Harina village in Rajshahi’s Bagha upazila who had traveled to Bhangura to work as a seasonal thresher operator.

According to family members and local witnesses, Hossain had been working in the area for three weeks. The confrontation occurred on Saturday afternoon when Yusuf Ali, the senior joint convener of the Bhangura Union BNP, allegedly demanded that Hossain prioritize threshing his paddy. When Hossain explained that he had prior commitments, Ali reportedly became enraged, assaulted the laborer, and seized the keys to his threshing machine.

Hossain’s son-in-law, Abdul Kader, stated that after being forced to complete the work under duress, Hossain returned home feeling severely unwell. He recounted the details of the assault to his family before heading to a nearby river to bathe, where he collapsed and died shortly after returning. Family members have since called for a thorough investigation and justice, asserting that the physical trauma of the assault contributed to his death.

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Yusuf Ali could not be reached for comment, as his mobile phone remained switched off following the incident. Local residents claim that the politician has gone into hiding. While Noor-Mujahid, the Bhangura upazila BNP convener, confirmed Ali’s affiliation with the party, he stated that he had no immediate knowledge of the altercation.

Bhangura Police Station officer-in-charge Sakiul Azam confirmed that authorities have recovered the body and transferred it to the Pabna General Hospital morgue for an autopsy. While the investigation remains ongoing, police stated that no formal case had been filed as of Sunday afternoon. Authorities noted that the medical examiner’s report will be critical in determining the precise cause of death and shaping the next steps of the inquiry.