Jabed Mahmud, Officer-in-Charge of the Detective Branch (DB) of Cox's Bazar Police, confirmed that Farukul was taken into DB custody that evening.
The harassment and assaults, carried out by a group led by Farukul, have gained widespread attention on social media, thanks to video footage documenting the incidents.
Police identified Farukul Islam as the leader of the group involved in the attacks that took place at Cox's Bazar beach and Lal Dighi on the night of September 11. Videos show Farukul, armed with a stick, verbally abusing a woman on the beach and forcing her to perform sit-ups while holding her ears.
Another video shows the same group confronting a woman seated on a beach chair, demanding that she leave despite her protests that she was merely a tourist. A third video depicts a woman near a restaurant at Sugandha Beach pleading with police to help recover her mobile phone, which the group had confiscated.
Additional footage shows Farukul striking a woman repeatedly with a stick while she lay on the ground, pleading for the assault to stop. The group also intercepted a rickshaw carrying two women, dragging them out and chasing them with sticks when they attempted to escape.
Qadaruddin Shishir, Bangladesh editor of AFP Fact Check, has verified the videos and confirmed Farukul's involvement in the incidents.
The events occurred on September 11, and Farukul and his associates initially posted the videos on Facebook, boasting about their actions. Farukul's Facebook account was briefly deactivated but later reappeared with many of the videos removed. Some posts remained in which Farukul defended his actions, alleging the women were prostitutes and claiming that critics of his behavior were also involved in the trade. In one post, he even claimed that the administration supported his actions.
END/SHM/SMA/
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