A video has gone viral on social media claiming that Md. Abdul Jabbar Mondol, Assistant Director of the Dhaka region office of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, was assaulted during an operation. The video has been shared from multiple Facebook accounts, pages, and groups using the same caption. In the video, a man is seen being punched and kicked in the middle of a road at night by several individuals. One attacker is seen hitting the man on the head with a helmet. The assaulted man appears to be middle-aged, bald, and wearing a shirt.

The video gained the most traction from the Facebook page named Amar Desh, where it was posted at 8:22 AM on Wednesday, May 21. The caption reads, “How did they dare to insult someone who performs his duties with honesty and dedication??? This is how everyone’s beloved Consumer Rights magistrate Abdul Jabbar Mondol Sir was beaten and harassed. We strongly condemn this. We demand justice for this incident.” (Original spelling retained.)

As of 10:30 AM, the video had been viewed 52,000 times, with 773 reactions, 229 comments, and 1,100 shares.

The same video, with the identical caption, has been posted by Facebook accounts under the names Piash M Rahman, Jahidhasan Hasan, and M. A. Jalil Mia.

A reverse image search of key frames from the video revealed similarities to photos published in a report on the news website Bangla Tribune on May 14. The assaulted person’s face, the road, the attackers, their clothing, and the surroundings in the video match those in the published report.

According to the report, on the night of May 13 at around 9 PM, a man named Nirmalendu Das Rana (45) was dining at a restaurant in the Rikabi Bazar area of Sylhet city when a group of individuals assaulted him and handed him over to the police. The assaulted individual is a former chairman of the Kargao Union Parishad in Nabiganj Upazila of Habiganj and a former general secretary of the municipal unit of the Awami League who had been expelled from the party.

Citing local police sources, the report further states that in 2014, Nirmalendu Das Rana was the prime accused in a case filed against 26 Awami League leaders for attacking a Jamaat rally in Nabiganj. The case was filed on September 14, 2014, by Shah Md. Alauddin, president of Jamaat-e-Islami's Sadar Union unit.

Allegations later surfaced that Shah Alauddin reached a financial settlement regarding the case. Upon verification, Jamaat-e-Islami expelled Alauddin. Subsequently, another case was filed against Nirmalendu Das Rana in connection with an attack during an anti-discrimination student movement in Dhaka. On the day of the incident, while dining at the restaurant with several other leaders from Nabiganj Upazila Awami League, Rana was attacked and injured by local individuals. A team from the Lamabazar outpost of Sylhet Metropolitan Police later rescued him.

A report published on the national daily Prothom Alo’s website on May 14 corroborates the same information. Furthermore, the assaulted man's face and clothing in the video match those in the image used in the report.

Additionally, no recent reports have been found in domestic news media about any incident of Abdul Jabbar Mondol, Assistant Director of the Dhaka region office of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, being assaulted.

Therefore, the claim circulating that Md. Abdul Jabbar Mondol was assaulted is false. In reality, the video depicts an incident from the night of May 13 in which locals in Sylhet city assaulted Nirmalendu Das Rana, former chairman of the Kargao Union Parishad in Habiganj’s Nabiganj Upazila.

Original News Source: https://www.ajkerpatrika.com/fact-check/fact-check-national/ajpv4xealvbqf