In a dramatic turn of events on the Dhaka-Khulna Highway, members of the elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) were mistaken for impostors and attacked by locals, as they pursued a group of criminals posing as RAB officers.
The incident took place around 7 PM on Monday evening in the Joy Bangla Mor area of Char Jashordi Union, Nagarkanda Upazila, Faridpur.
According to reports, a high-speed microbus with blaring horns was being chased by another microbus, drawing suspicion from locals. Residents blocked the road by felling a tree and stopped the first vehicle.
The men inside identified themselves as RAB personnel, but their lack of uniforms raised doubts. When they attempted to flee, the crowd detained and began beating them.
Soon after, the second microbus arrived, carrying real RAB members—some in plain clothes—who had been chasing the impostors.
The officers tried to intervene and rescue the suspects, but they too were attacked by the angry mob, who failed to recognize them as legitimate RAB due to their civilian clothing.
Police from Nagarkanda police station, along with additional RAB forces, later arrived at the scene and calmed the situation, rescuing both the real and fake RAB members.
Sub-Inspector Amirul Islam, acting officer-in-charge of Nagarkanda Police Station, confirmed the incident to media.
He said the detained individuals were taken to the police station and later handed over to RAB-10, who transported them to Srinagar Police Station in Munshiganj.
According to a press release from RAB-10, the detained individuals had allegedly robbed two gold traders.
The fake RAB members have been identified as Swapan Khan (45) of Shariatpur’s Zajira, Mintu Gazi (45) of Chandpur Sadar, Saiful Islam (30) of Gaibandha’s Sundarganj, Md. Jamil (32) of Madaripur’s Kalkini, and Didar (29) of Alfadanga in Faridpur.
RAB-10’s Faridpur camp commander Tariqul Islam stated that the team had been pursuing the robbers from headquarters when the locals intervened, misunderstanding the situation. The confusion was partly due to some RAB members wearing civilian clothes.
Anwar Hossain, commander of RAB-10’s Munshiganj camp, said the robbers were initially being pursued from Srinagar. Although they managed to cross the Padma Bridge and Expressway toll gates, they were eventually captured.
“We tried to protect the suspects from being beaten to death by the public, but in doing so, some of our own members were attacked as well. However, those incidents are not serious enough to pursue further,” he added.
