Police yet to record case in 4 years
Piren Slan
The case for the killing of Madhupur indigenous leader Piren Slan is yet to be recorded four years after the killing while Piren's family members have alleged 'intentional' passing of time to save the accused. On this day in 2004, Piren Slan was killed as police and forest guards fired on a demonstration of the indigenous people who protested the then government's initiative to construct a boundary wall in the forests in Madhupur under an Eco Park project. At least 25 people including women and children were also injured in the firing. The government then stopped the construction works of the boundary wall of the Eco Park project. Piren's father Nezendra Nokrake with the help of Bangladesh Legal Aid And Services Trust (Blast) filed a case with a first class magistrate's court in Tangail on January 14 accusing several forest officers, forest guards and police personnel. After an inquiry, Magistrate Mokhlesur Rahman submitted a report to the court on November 17, 2004, mentioning that police and forest guards were not responsible for Piren Slan's killing. The same day, Piren's father Nezendra Nokrake submitted a naraji (non-acceptance) petition against the report. The hearing of the naraji petition was deferred for 17 times in three years. Madhpur police, however, did not record the case and sent it back to the court police also filed a case after the killing of Piren and two cases cannot be filed for one incident. Following August 7 order of Tangail District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Shahnewaz, the files of the two cases (one filed by Piren's father and another by police) were sent to Madhupur Police Station from the Magistrate Court on August 23.
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