Three and a half years old Farid was not feeling well for the last couple of days. He was throwing tantrums over everything.

His mother, Rozina Begum, became quite worried. The mother and son had been living by themselves in Sinduriapara of Mainamoti under Burichong upazila in Comilla after Farid's father, Jamal Hossain, went abroad recently.

On Friday morning, she took Farid to see Mahbubur Rahman, known as a local “kobiraj” (an herbal practitioner), at Kuchaitoli of Sadar upazila around 10km away from their house.

Though the 55-year-old is called a kobiraj, Mahbubur “specialises” in getting rid of “evil spirits”, according to his staff.

He said Farid had been possessed by a djinn. He also suggested that the mother leave the boy at his care so that he could “cure” him. Mahbubur said he needed three days to get rid of the djinn.

The worried mother agreed. She also requested him to let her stay with her son. But Mahbubur refused and told her to go back home.

Rozina could not sleep and continued worrying about her son. She also called Mahbubur at night and wanted to hear her son's voice. But he said Farid was sleeping.

It was a sleepless night for the mother, which she spent praying for her son's wellbeing.

In the morning, she called again. Mahbubur said the treatment was ongoing. Rozina decided to go to Mahbubur's residence, which was also his workplace.

But around noon, the 28-year-old mother received another call from Mahbubur.

The news she received shook her to the core.

He said her son had been killed by the djinn. He also informed that he had sent the body in an ambulance back to her for burial.

Soon afterwards, Sahadat, the khadem (caretaker) of the place, called Rozina for the exact location of her residence. He said the ambulance was near the Comilla Cantonment beside Comilla-Sylhet Highway.

Right away, her relatives contacted some of the locals, present in the area. They intercepted the vehicle and hander over Sahadat and the driver to police.

Abed Sultan Badol, an uncle of Farid, said, “There were many injury marks on my nephew's body. He must have been beaten mercilessly by the quack.”

He demanded exemplary punishment to those responsible.

Rozina was too grief-stricken to speak.

The family filed a murder case on Saturday night against Mahbubur Rahman, Sahadat and some other staff with Comilla Kotwali Model Police Station.

Sub-inspector Maruf, the case's investigating officer, said, “We're looking into the matter. Mahbubur is absconding. We're trying to find out his whereabouts.”

The body was sent for autopsy.

This correspondent visited the residence of Mahbubur at Kuchaitoli Baropara under Jagannathpur Union of Sadar Upazila yesterday.

The residence, a four-storied building, is situated in an around one-bigha of land. The area was surrounded by seven to eight feet boundary walls. There were CCTV cameras all around. The property was also heavily guarded. There were guards as well as dog squads to ensure a foolproof security.

The security guards did not allow the correspondent to get inside.

Meanwhile, allegations of torturing, beating, deceiving and harassing people run rife against Mahbubur.

While talking to locals, many of them said Mahbubur came to the area around 10 years ago and started his “business” of deceiving people through promising to cure diseases.

He charges Tk 20,000 to Tk 30,000 per client, they alleged. He used to be a “small-time shaman” in the Housing Estate area at Sadar upazila. Locals living in that area said he was ousted from there due to the allegations.

Despite the allegations, police did not take any actions against him, alleged Nure Alam, a local.

When asked, Sub-inspector Maruf, the investigating officer, evaded the question by saying that they were looking into the matter.