Faridpur witnessed a dramatic and chaotic incident on Monday evening when locals chased and beat both a group of fake RAB members and actual RAB personnel who were pursuing them.
The incident took place around 7pm at Joy Bangla Mor in Char Jashordi Union along the Dhaka-Khulna Highway in Nagarkanda upazila.
According to eyewitnesses, a speeding microbus was being chased by another microbus with blaring horns. Suspicious of the situation, locals blocked the road with a tree and stopped the first microbus. The occupants claimed to be members of the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), but none were in uniform, raising doubts among locals. When the individuals attempted to flee, the crowd apprehended and beat them.
Shortly afterward, the second microbus arrived, carrying actual RAB officers– some in plain clothes– who identified themselves and tried to rescue the suspects. However, unable to distinguish between real and fake officers, the enraged crowd attacked both groups.
Police and additional RAB teams eventually arrived, calmed the situation, and rescued both sides.
Nagarkanda Police Station’s acting officer-in-charge, SI Amirul Islam, confirmed the incident. “We brought both the fake and real RAB members to the station. Later, RAB personnel from Faridpur camp took them to Munshiganj’s Srinagar Police Station,” he said.
According to a RAB-10 press release, the arrested fake RAB members are: Swapan Khan (45) from Shariatpur’s Zajira, Mintu Gazi (45) from Chandpur Sadar, Saiful Islam (30) from Gaibandha’s Sundarganj, Jamil (32) from Madaripur’s Kalkini, Didar (29) from Faridpur’s Alfadanga.
RAB confirmed that the suspects were involved in robbing two gold traders.
RAB-10 Faridpur Camp Commander Tariqul Islam explained, “We were chasing the robbers from our headquarters. Locals misunderstood the situation and attacked both sides, as some of our members were in plain clothes.”
RAB-10 Munshiganj Camp Commander Anwar Hossain added, “We had pursued the fake RAB from Srinagar in Munshiganj. Although they crossed Padma Bridge and the expressway toll gates, we eventually caught them. During the mob beating, we intervened to save them, which led the crowd to mistakenly attack us too.”
