United News of Bangladesh

A Sylhet court on Thursday sentenced suspended Sub-Inspector of police Akbar Hossain Bhuiyan to death in a case filed over the death of Raihan Ahmed in torture at the Bandarbazar police outpost in 2020.Sylhet Metropolitan and Session Judge Abdul Majid Munshi also awarded life imprisonment to two other accused and seven year’s jail to three others. The lifers are suspended constables Harun-or-Rshid and Titu Chandra Das, while three other convicts are suspended SI Hasan Uddin, Assistant Sub-Inspector Asheque Elahi and journalist Abdullah Al Noman. The court also fined Akbar Tk 1 lakh. Of the convicts, Asheque was present in the dock while others were tried in absentia. According to the prosecution, on October 11, 2020, Raihan, 34, a resident of Akhalia in Sylhet city, was beaten to death in police custody. His wife Tahmina Akter Tanni filed a case with Kotwali Police Station. Four policemen, including Akbar, the then in-charge of Bandarbazar police outpost, were suspended on October 12, 2020. The three other policemen were also withdrawn the same day. Later, the case was transferred to the Police Bureau of Investigation. Akbar was arrested from Dona frontier area in Kanaighat upazila of Sylhet on November 9, 2020 while trying to flee to India Police pressed charges against six people, including Akbar, on May 5, 2021. Meanwhile, Akbar was released from jail on August 11, 2025, after he secured bail in the case from the High Court the previous day. Although his bail was later stayed, he did not surrender before the court. How Raihan died Raihan was taken to Bandarbazar police outpost on October 10, 2020, where policemen demanded Tk 10,000 for his release. His uncle then rushed to the police outpost with Tk 5,000 but policemen refused to take the money and asked him to return after arranging Tk 10,000. Raihan’s uncle then again went to the police outpost at 9:30am the following day with the money but he was told that his nephew had fallen sick and taken to a hospital. As he went to the hospital, he came to know that Raihan was already dead and his body had been sent for post-mortem.