Boy dies by ‘suicide’ after cops ‘pick up’ mother, sister

A teenage boy allegedly died by suicide hours after police assaulted and picked up his mother and sister in Agrabad area of Chattogram yesterday.

Police recovered the body of Salman Islam Maruf, 18, hanging from the ceiling at his home in the morning.

Sub-inspector Helal Uddin of Double Mooring Police Station whose team picked up his mother and sister was closed to Dampara Police Line yesterday in connection with the incident, said Faruk Ul Haque, deputy commissioner of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (West).

Locals said Maruf beat up a young man -- who introduced himself as a police informant -- suspecting him of being a thief near his house on Boro Masjid Lane around 11:30pm on Thursday.

Soon afterwards, SI Helal arrived at the scene in plain clothes to arrest Maruf, they added.

The police official engaged in a tussle with Maruf's mother and sister as they tried to resist the arrest.

At one point, Maruf managed to flee the scene.

Later, a police patrol team picked up the mother and the sister.

DC Faruk claimed that the two were taken to Agrabad Maa O Shishu Hospital for treatment.

After returning home, Maruf must have assumed that police detained his mother and sister for his fault and hanged himself, locals said.

"We don't know what happened there -- we formed a probe committee to assess the details of the incident," the DC said.

Meanwhile, locals staged a demonstration demanding justice for Maruf.

Police filed an unnatural death case in this connection and the body was sent to Chattogram Medical College morgue for an autopsy.

A two-member probe body was formed to investigate the incident and asked to submit its report by 5:00pm yesterday. But the report was not submitted as of 8:00pm.

Action would be taken against SI Helal if found guilty, DC Faruk said.