Staff Reporter :
A gang of robbers have reportedly hacked four vegetables traders with lethal weapons at Bhakurta in Savar, on the outskirt of the capital on Wednesday morning.
Of them, two were dead and two others managed to flee the spot luckily.
Of the deceased are Masud Rana, 20, and his uncle Mohsin Miah, 45, were residents of Battali village in Keraniganj upazila of Dhaka district.
The injured Alimuddin and Mohiuddin were admitted to a local hospital in a critical condition. The robbers took away their cash and belongings.
Meanwhile, angry locals put up a barricade on the highway around 9:30am. Later, additional police went to the spot and removed the protesting locals from the highway after an hour.
Alimuddin Hossain, another vegetable trader, said that he along with Masud, Mohsin and Mohiuddin were going to Mirpur-1 in the capital by a truck to sell vegetables. When their vehicle reached near Turag Bridge, a gang of 8-10 robbers intercepted it at gunpoint.
The bandits then tied the legs and hands of Masud and Mohsin with rope and left them in the middle of the road around 2:50am. They stabbed Alimuddin and Mohiuddin mercilessly. Moments later, a speeding truck ran over Masud and Mohsin, leaving them dead on the spot.
After hearing screams of Alimuddin and Mohiuddin, locals rushed to the spot. On information, police rushed in and sent Alimuddin and Mohiuddin to a local hospital, said Sub-inspector of Savar Police Station Kamruzzaman.
Russel Sheikh, Assistant Superintendent of Police (Savar Circle) said that the robbers looted their cash and other valuables of the vegetable traders.
He said that Mohsin and Masud died when the robbers knocked them down while fleeing the spot.
“Two vegetable traders were crushed under the wheels of a speeding truck of the robbers after they were left, with their hands and legs tied, allegedly by robbers in the middle of the road,” the police official said.
Bhakurta UP Ward No. 6 member Shahabuddin Mollah said: “Such sorts of robbery are rampant on the highway and local police are yet to take any fruitful measures to check the crimes despite our repeated appeals.”
