Elderly man killed over Tk1,000 rent dispute

An elderly man was allegedly beaten to death early on Monday following a dispute over Tk1,000 in unpaid rent for a sublet room at the Medical Staff Quarters in Azimpur under Lalbagh police station in the capital.

The deceased was identified as Md Swapan, 60, a cosmetics trader from Taher Fakirkandi village in Shibchar Upazila of Madaripur. He had been living in a sublet room at the quarters with his brother, paying Tk6,000 in monthly rent.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Kiran Mia of Lalbagh police station said the incident took place at around 4:30am. Swapan was rescued in a critical condition and taken to the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), where doctors declared him dead at around 5:30am.

Police detained two people in connection with the incident. They were identified as Swapan's flatmate Rizvi and his cousin Ruhan. A case is being processed. SI Kiran Mia said the dispute began over the outstanding rent. 

According to the officer, the accused pushed Swapan during the altercation, causing him to fall face down and suffer a severe head injury that led to heavy bleeding.

Swapan's brother Raja Mohammad Selim said they had been living as subtenants at the quarters and that Rizvi frequently pressured them to pay the rent before the end of the month. He said only Tk1,000 of the month’s rent remained unpaid. When Rizvi demanded the money on Sunday night, they asked for a few more days to pay. Rizvi then allegedly verbally abused and threatened them.

Selim alleged that at around 4am, Rizvi and Ruhan came to their room and renewed the argument over the unpaid rent.