Angry locals dragged a woman out of a police vehicle and beat her to death suspecting her as child-trafficker at the capital's Jatrabari yesterday.They also injured three coppers, a driver and vandalised the police van as the law enforcers attempted to control the rowdy crowd.
Maksuda, 35, died shortly after she was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
According to locals, the woman was seen with a two-year-old boy and an eight-year-old girl at Hashem road of Matuail around 11:00am.
A local recognised the children as Jannat and Fahim, her neighbour's children and stopped the woman. She hurriedly walked away leaving the children behind.
Suspecting her as child-trafficker, the locals beat her up and handed her over to the police around 11:30am.
"Three coppers and an Ansar member arrived and picked the woman when suddenly, the mob intercepted the van and asked the police to hand over the woman to them," Assistant Commissioner of Demra zone Md Iqbal Hossain told The Daily Star.
"When the police refused the unruly mob beat them up, vandalised the vehicle and beat up the woman again," he said.
Additional coppers reached the spot shortly afterwards and sent the critically injured woman to DMCH, where she died around 3:00pm, he added.
The injured coppers, Sub-Inspector of Jatrabari Police Station Nazrul Islam, constables Ghulam Azam, Monir Hossain were admitted to Rajarbagh Police Lines Hospital, while the driver, Liton received first aid.
Yasmine, mother of Jannat and Fahim, claimed that Maksuda had tricked her children with promises of food while they were playing outside their house.