Chhatra League leader arrested over torture, stripping of JU student and forcing pro-Hasina slogans in Netrakona

Police have arrested the prime accused in a case involving the assault of a student of Jahangirnagar University, extortion, filming him naked, and forcing him to chant slogans in support of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina before circulating the video on social media in Netrakona's Purbadhala upazila.

Shishir Ahmed Talukdar Ratul, 22, general secretary of the Purbadhala Sadar union unit of the banned Bangladesh Chhatra League, was detained from the Charpara area of Mymensingh city at around 11:30pm yesterday (13 June), confirmed Purbadhala Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun.

According to the victim's complaint and police sources, Md Sharif Hossain Rowshan, 20, a first-year student of the 54th batch of the Department of Drama and Dramatics at Jahangirnagar University, mistakenly got off at Shaldighi in Purbadhala while travelling to Netrakona on 10 June. As he was walking toward Trimohoni, several individuals allegedly intercepted him and took him to a secluded location.

The complaint states that the attackers assaulted and threatened him before taking Tk4,560 in cash, Tk10,000 through mobile financial services, Tk1,500 from a bKash loan account, and a mobile phone. The total financial loss amounted to Tk16,060.

The victim alleged that after checking the contents of his mobile phone, the assailants subjected him to further abuse, forced him to make statements and chant slogans in favour of Sheikh Hasina, stripped him naked, and recorded videos of the incident. The videos were later circulated on social media.

The student filed a case under Section 394 of the Penal Code and relevant provisions of the Cyber Security Act, 2026, against three to four unidentified individuals.

Police said efforts are underway to identify and arrest the remaining suspects involved in the incident.