Man dies in police custody

A man was found dead in police custody yesterday, hours after Tejgaon Industrial Police arrested him under the Digital Security Act, allegedly for harassing a woman.

The deceased is Abu Bakar Siddique Babu (45), floor-in-charge of Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC).

His wife Aleya Ferdousi suspected that Babu was “tortured and killed” at the police station. Police, however, refuted the allegation and said Babu hanged himself inside the lockup.

Ali Hossain Khan, officer-in-charge of Tejgaon Industrial Police Station, said a woman filed a case against Babu for developing a relationship with her on the pretext of marriage and then posted some intimate photos on social media.

“After arresting Babu on Saturday night, we kept him inside the lockup. After midnight, he found him hanged with his shirt tied to the iron bars of the lockup. We immediately took him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead around 4am,” the OC said.

He also claimed that they have a CCTV footage of the incident.

GM Saif, Babu’s colleague at BFDC, said they worked together on Saturday. At night, police informed their senior officials about Babu’s case. Saif suspected that Babu was tortured in custody.

Babu’s wife said they have been living separately for the last six months. “I heard Babu got arrested in a case filed by the woman he was having a relationship with,” she added.

Babu’s body was still at the DMC morgue as an autopsy would be conducted today.