5 including Bangshal OC sued over custodial death

Five police officials, including the OC of Bangshal Police Station in Dhaka, have been sued under the Torture and Custodial Death (Prohibition) Act for allegedly torturing a man to death while in custody.

They are OC Moinul Islam and four sub-inspectors of the police station -- Imdadul Haque, Abu Saleh, Masud Rana, and Bulbul Ahmed.

Ima Akter Happy, wife of the victim Faruk Hossain, filed the case with the Metropolitan Sessions Judges' Court of Dhaka on Tuesday, additional public prosecutor Tapash Kumar Pal told The Daily Star.

Judge Md Asaduzzaman yesterday directed the Detective Branch of police to investigate the case and submit a report on March 28, said the state lawyer.

According to the case documents, on January 12, Faruk, 45, a former personal bodyguard of a private bank's chairman, left his Lalbagh home for personal reasons. Later, he called Happy, informing her that he was being tortured by some policemen of Kayetuli Police Outpost in Bangshal after forceful detention.

After rushing to the outpost, Happy found Faruk beaten and detained by police.

Happy requested SI Imdadul, also in-charge of the outpost, to release her husband, but the SI rebuked her, calling Faruk a major criminal and demanding Tk 1 lakh for his release.

"At one stage, the SI reduced the amount to Tk 50,000. The police accused Faruk of being a drug dealer and took him to Bangshal Police Station on a motorcycle," said the complainant.

When the complainant went to the police station and requested the officials to release her husband, they instructed her to go to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's (CMM) Court of Dhaka on January 13.

On January 13, Faruk was sent to Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj after he was produced before the CMM Court in connection with a narcotics case.

On January 15, the complainant learned through a phone call that Faruk had died at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital. At the hospital morgue, she found injury marks on his neck, chest, and back.

Contacted, OC Moinul said the allegations against them were fabricated. "No one tortured Faruk in custody," he claimed.