Assault of Cabbie

HC directive to sue 3 police constables

7 June 2010, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

The High Court yesterday directed the police authorities to file a criminal case against three police constables on charges of assaulting a cabbie over requisitioning his taxi in the city's Farmgate area on May 13. A bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Md Delwar ordered the authorities to close the constables and bring departmental action against them. The inspector general of police (IGP) and the Dhaka metropolitan police commissioner have to comply with the order. The bench asked them to submit a report after investigating the matter within seven days. It also asked the IGP to turn in a report within 15 days on what steps should be taken against the accused. The accused, Kabir Hossain, Abdul Malek and Arshad Uddin, yesterday appeared before the HC bench to explain the incident. They told the court that they did not harass the taxi driver, rather they were controlling the traffic movement at Farmgate on the day as the president was passing through the area. Driver Ripon Khan said the policemen harassed and assaulted him over requisitioning his taxicab. Advocate Manzill Murshid, the counsel for Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), earlier filed a writ petition with the HC challenging the law regarding requisitioning of vehicles. He yesterday placed before the court some photos showing the policemen harassing Ripon. After hearing the statements of the policemen and the taxi driver, and examining the photos, the court passed the directives, and fixed July 7 for final hearing on the petition. In response to the writ petition, the same bench on May 23 directed the government to stop harassing the vehicle owners and drivers in the name of requisitioning vehicles. Deputy Attorney General Nazrul Islam Talukder stood for the government.