Armed attackers raided the home and shop of a witness in a 1971 crimes-against-humanity case in Daulatpur village of Shalla upazila, Sunamganj, carrying out vandalism, looting, and sexual assaults. At least five people were injured and are receiving treatment.
The incident is the latest in a series of attacks that have targeted Hindus, freedom fighters, Birangana families and other pro-liberation residents across Shalla, Dirai and surrounding areas of Sunamganj since August 2024.
Shalla Thana OC Mohammad Sohel confirmed that the attack took place around midnight on Thursday. Police gathered evidence of the attack and vandalism and advised the victims to file a case. The victims were delayed because they were at the hospital with the injured.
Dulal Mia’s house and shop were attacked by a group carrying local weapons. Dulal Mia’s father, Mamud Ali, was martyred in the 1971 Liberation War, and seven relatives from the family were killed during the war. Dulal Mia testified in the crimes-against-humanity case in 2016 along with 31 others. The International Crimes Tribunal’s investigation agency later submitted a roughly 150-page report.
In the same case, police arrested Tota Tailors of Daulatpur, Jalil Mia and three others on 29 December 2019. After prolonged imprisonment they were released on bail. They face charges of killing 34 people, raping five women, abducting 31 people, torturing 14 people, and setting fire to and looting 30 houses during the 1971 war.
Dulal Mia’s daughter Ujjwala Akter stated that her father is a witness in the 1971 crimes-against-humanity case and testified while living in fear. That fear intensified after 5 August 2024. Her husband Helal Mia and father Dulal Mia run a village shop that has also faced increasing harassment. Other local witnesses left the village after 5 August; only this family remained.
Ujjwala reported that the shop was robbed on 23 October and the family informed Shalla Thana. When police came to investigate on 29 October, the attackers demanded to know why police had entered the village and argued with them.
After police left, around midnight 15–20 people led by Jalal Mia (nephew of war-crimes accused Tota Tailors), including Tofazzal Mia, Shahin Mia (grandson of war-crimes accused Jalil Mia), Hekim Morol, Sultan, Razzak, Tarek, Shamim, Nur Islam and others, attacked the house and shop.
They looted goods, cash and gold ornaments, taking four refrigerators, six cows, two bhori of gold and four lakh taka in cash. The house was vandalised.
The attackers beat Fatema Begum, Farida Begum and Rokeya Begum and attempted sexual assault on them; the women were later taken to Dirai and Shalla hospitals. They also tried to rape Ujjwala and her 12-year-old daughter. Ujjwala said the family are war-crimes witnesses and members of a Birangana (war heroine) family, and the attackers want to drive them from their land.
Dulal Mia’s wife Fatema Begum said the accused have long oppressed the family because of their influence. On Thursday night they attacked and looted everything. She cannot locate her husband. Other accused in the case left the village out of fear after 5 August.
Helal Mia (Ujjwala’s husband) arrived from Sunamganj after hearing of the attack and found the shop and house emptied. No men were present at the time. The attackers came armed, attacked and looted.
Emergency department doctor Moktadir Ahmed of Shalla Upazila Health Complex confirmed that three women and one child from Daulatpur arrived injured and are under treatment.
Jalal Mia, an accused in the war-crimes case, did not answer repeated calls. OC Mohammad Sohel noted that police who visited during the day on Thursday had a verbal confrontation with the attackers, after which the night-time attack and vandalism occurred.
The attack took place in Daulatpur village, the birthplace of local Jamaat-e-Islami leader and Supreme Court lawyer Mohammad Shishir Monir. He contested the February 2026 parliamentary election from Sunamganj-2 (Dirai-Shalla) as the Jamaat candidate but lost to BNP candidate Nasir Uddin Chowdhury.
His father, uncle and cousin were Razakars who participated in the massacre of Hindus, rape of women and looting of houses in 1971. Residents of Shalla, Dirai and wider Sunamganj say the pattern of attacks on pro-liberation families, war-crimes witnesses, Hindus and freedom fighters since August 2024 amounts to systematic repression.