‘I have no idea why he wants to kill me’

Teenage gangs have started to become active again in Uttara, a year after the tragic murder of schoolboy Adnan Kabir. On March 20, a teenager made an ominous announcement on Facebook and attempted to murder a 14-year-old. The 14-year-old is now undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). He is in critical condition. The victim’s father Moksud Ali filed an attempt to murder case with the West Uttara police station. The suspect is yet to be arrested. The incident took place on the rooftop of a house in Sector 11 of Uttara around 9pm on March 20. According to case details, a 17-year-old identifying himself as a friend of the victim called up Moksud’s wife over the mobile phone around 8pm on March 20 and inquired about her son. After the call, the 14-year-old went out of the house but by around 9pm, one of the teachers of the victim called his family and informed them that their son was taken to M Mansur Ali Medical College Hospital. The victim’s mother and brother went to the hospital and found several stab marks on his body. He was later shifted to DMCH. The ninth grader of Milestone School in Uttara had sustained injuries on his chin, face, throat, abdomen, hands, and back in the attack. Speaking about his attacker, the victim said: “We became friends a few months back. He is my senior but he liked me a lot. “He often used to call me. On Tuesday, [March 20], he asked me to go to his place and offered to give me a ride on his father’s motorcycle.” The injured student said: “After roaming for some time, he asked me to go to their terrace stating that his father would see us.” “Sometime later, he went to the house leaving me alone on the terrace saying that he was coming back with his tablet.” He added: “After coming back he started stabbing me indiscriminately. As I shouted for help, his elder brother came to my rescue and took me to the hospital. “He seemed to be on drugs at that time. While I was being taken down from the terrace, he was threatening me saying that he will kill me.” He said: “I have no idea why he wants to kill me.” On the day of the attack, the suspect posted a status on his Facebook around 8:32pm saying that “Sob salare khun koira lamu (I will kill them all).” Soon after posting the status, the class 10 student attempted to kill his friend. The 17-year-old has been on the run since the incident. Police conducted drives at several places, including his residence, but could not find him. Local teenagers said the suspect is a drug addict and was involved with a local gang of teenagers. From various comments on Facebook, it seems that the duo was engaged in a feud over a mobile phone, which might be the reason behind the incident. The victim’s brother Naif Ahmed said: “He [suspect] asked my brother for money and tried to kill my brother when he refused to give the money. “But we are not sure about what had actually happened.” The 14-year-old did not disclose anything specifically about the incident but an iPhone belonging to his family has been missing since the incident. He also denied having involvement with any local teen gangs. However, in a Facebook status, an Uttara gang named “Disco Boys Bangladesh” threatened to take revenge for the attack. The group said it would bury the suspect wherever he was found. The group members also offered cooperation to the injured student’s family. Moksud Ali said: “I along with my family lived in Saudi Arabia. We came back to Bangladesh three years ago for the studies of my children. “I bought a flat in Uttara and got the children enrolled in different schools.” He said he was in his village home in Habiganj on the day of the incident. He rushed to Dhaka after hearing about it. On January 6, 2017, ninth grader Adnan Kabir was killed by members of a rival gang in Uttara. The accused arrested in the murder case are now out on bail. Since the recent incident, teen gangs have again become active on Facebook over blaming each other and issuing threats. West Uttara Police Station sub-inspector (SI) Saiful Islam and said: “They knew each other. They were engaged with a feud over some issue. “The incident might have happened because of that. The mystery will be solved after the victim recovers.”This article was first published on banglatribune.com