Manabadhikar Shongskriti Foundation (MSF) today (January 19, 2023) condemned the death of a trader "in police custody" in Gazipur and demanded legal action against those involved after ensuring fair investigation. Family members and locals say that Rabiul Islam, 40, a resident of Peyara Bagan in Gazipur city died while in police custody. The incident came to light on Wednesday. According to the statement of MSF, the statement of police over the incident was not acceptable. The organization demanded fair investigation into the death, autopsy and publication of the autopsy report. Read More: Trader's beheaded body found in Chandpur They also demanded legal action against those involved after finding out the actual reason behind the death. Police arrested Rabiul along with three others on charge of gambling on January 14. However, police released three of them. On January 17, a team of police went to the house of Rabiul and took a signature on a white paper from his wife, the latter said. After that, Rabiul’s wife came to know that her husband was dead. Read more: Trader’s death in ‘police custody’: Locals block Dhaka-M’sing, Dhaka-Tangail highways Malek Khasru, officer-in-charge of Basan Police Station, said two sub-inspectors took Rabiul to the police station and they let him go from the police station on January 17. But on the way home, Rabiul was knocked down by a truck, he said. Later, he was taken to Shaheed Tajuddin Medical College and Hospital and he died there, according to police. Enraged by the death, local people, equipped with sticks, put up barricades on Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways on Wednesday morning, disrupting traffic movement. Two policemen of Gazipur Metropolitan Police were withdrawn from their duty on Wednesday over the death. Read More: Trader’s death in ‘police custody’: Locals block Dhaka-M’sing, Dhaka-Tangail highways The policemen are: Mahbub and Nurul Islam, both assistant sub-inspectors (ASIs) of Bason Police Station, Gazipur Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner (Crime) Abu Torab Mohammad Shamsur Rahman told UNB. Meanwhile, a three-member probe committee headed by Additional Police Commissioner of Gazipur Metropolitan Police Md Delwar Hossain has been formed to investigate this incident, he added.

Vehicular movement on Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Tangail highways remained suspended for an hour on Wednesday as local people blocked those protesting the death of a trader allegedly under police custody. However, police said he died in a road crash while returning to his home. Local people said a team of police from Bason Police Station arrested four people from Bhogra Bypass area on Saturday night on charge of gambling. Later, police released three of them except Rabiul Islam, 40, a resident of Peyara Bagan in Gazipur city. On Tuesday night, police went to the house of Rabiul and took signature of his wife on a white paper, they said. Soon after that, Rabiul’s wife came to know that Rabiul died in the night. Also read: Man dies in police custody in Tangail Enraged by the death of Rabiul, local people, equipped with sticks, put up barricades on Dhaka-Tangail and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways around 9:30 am, disrupting traffic movement. They also set two motorbikes on fire. On information, police rushed to the spot and lobbed tear gas shells and used rubber bullets to disperse them. Vehicular movement on both the highways came to normal at 10:30 pm after police intervention. However, Abu Torab, deputy commissioner of Gazipur Metropolitan Police, Shamsur Rahman, said Rabiul died in a road crash while returning to his home from police lockup. “The allegation brought by the local people will be investigated,” he said. END/UNB/Corr/MAS/FH

The body of Sumon Sheikh alias Rummon, who died in Hatirjheel police custody  early Friday, has been handed over to his family by police. Police handed over the body on Monday a day after his family claimed that they did not receive the body as police gave them a condition to take it directly to their village home instead of taking it to anywhere else. An assistant staff of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital morgue told UNB that police received the body from the morgue completing the formalities around 3 pm  but none of his family members were present. Faruque Hossain, Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan police media wing said, “The body has been handed over to Sumon’s father and he will be buried at his ancestral home in Nawabganj or at Azimpur graveyard.” Also read: Death in custody: Family fail to receive Sumon’s body as police attach condition Meanwhile, Sumon’s wife Jannat Akter along with other family members went to Dhaka Metropolitan magistrate Court to file a case over his death in police custody. Jannat’s brother Mosharraf Hossain said they did not receive the body and police might have handed it over to his father. “My sister is ill. We went to court to take advice from the lawyer to file a case over Sumon’s death,” he said. Sumon’s family members on Saturday claimed that they did not receive the body of Sumon as police gave them a condition to take it directly to their village home instead of taking it to anywhere else.However, police said the body was not handed over as they did not get appropriate guardian to receive it.Postmortem of Sumon Sheikh alias Rumman, the accused in the case of theft of Hatirjheel police station, was completed in absence of his family members at the mortuary of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital on Saturday night.Family members said after the autopsy, the police asked to take the body to Bhola, but they denied receiving it as they wanted to take the body to Sumon's residence in Rampura Mohanagar project first. Also read: Youth arrested for stealing money dies in police custodyA General Diary (GD) has been logged by the police in this incident.Earlier talking to reporters at Hatirjheel Police Station on Saturday evening, Azimul Haque said a case was filed with Hatirjheel police station in connection with stealing of Tk 53 lakh from the office of Unilever's Pureit Company on August 15.Police arrested three people identified as Al Amin, Sohel Rana and Anik Hossain in connection with the incident. They are now in jail. Sumon Sheikh was identified by analyzing the CCTV footage of the place of occurrence and also interrogating the three arrestees. Later, police arrested Sumon from his house in Rampura Mahanagar project area on Friday afternoon and recovered Tk 3,13,700 from his possession. Then he was kept in police custody around 11 pm, he said.Rumman Sheikh, aka Sumon, was supposed to be sent to the court on Saturday morning. But he hanged himself from an iron grill with the trousers he was wearing at around 3:32 am on early Saturday. It was seen in the CCTV footage and this footage was also shown to the deceased's wife and relatives, said policeSI Hemayet Hossain, who was Duty Officer on Friday night, and constable Md. Zakaria have been suspended for negligence of duty.Besides, a three-member inquiry committee headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADC) Tejgaon Industrial Zone Hafiz Al Farooq has been constituted.

Jatiya Party Chairman Ghulam Muhammed Quader on Friday demanded  that the authorities conduct an impartial probe into the death of Rabiul Islam in police custody in Lalmonirhat. “If Rabiul died due to police torture, the person responsible must be brought to book. The culprit should in no way be spared,” he said in a statement. Read: Anti-liberation forces want to see ‘famine’ in Bangladesh: Minister Quader, also the deputy leader of opposition, said Rabiul's death in police custody is unacceotable  He expressed anger and shock at the death of the youth in custody on Friday, an allegation police denied. The JP leader prayed for the salvation of the departed soul and expressed deep sympathy to the bereaved family.

A 25-year-old RMG worker in Lalmonirhat allegedly died in police custody on Thursday night. Agitated locals blocked the Lalmonirhat-Rangpur Highway halting traffic on the busy high-speed corridor for few hours in the early hours of Friday, after the family of the deceased accused the police of torture. The deceased was identified as Robiul Islam Khan, son of Dulal Khan of Kazir Chowra village in Sadar upazila. Robiul and another man were arrested by the police on charges of gambling at a fair in the Mahendranagar Bangla Bazar area on the occasion of Pahela Boishakh, according to his family members. Also read: Sunamganj man dies allegedly in police custody, protesters block road Robiul had an altercation with some cops while being dragged into a police van as he insisted that he was innocent, they claimed. "He was badly beaten up by the cops for refusing to enter the police van. He had sustained injuries, which eventually led to his death," said a family member of the deceased. Additional superintendent of Lalmonirhat Police Rabiul Islam, however, denied the allegation of custodial torture. "The two people were arrested by a police team from the fair on tip-off. But Robiul fell sick on the way to the local police station and he was soon rushed to Sadar Hospital. He died while being shifted to Rangpur Medical College and Hospital,” he said. Also read: Himangshu’s death in ‘police custody’: 3-member probe body formed As the news of the death spread, the agitated locals blocked the Lalmonirhat-Rangpur highway in the early hours of Friday and demanded the punishment of a sub-Inspector of Sadar police station. The locals also vandalised a police van when some cops reached the spot to pacify the crowd, officials said. The mob dispersed only after the cops assured them of a proper probe into the death. When contacted, Shah Alam, officer-in-charge of Sadar police station, said, "We are waiting for the autopsy report of the deceased."

A man accused in a drug case died at Uttara East Police Station early Tuesday, while on a two-day remand. The accused hanged himself to death from the ventilator of the cell with a blanket, Deputy Commissioner (Uttara Division) Mohamamd Foyjul Islam told UNB. The deceased was identified as Mohammad Liton, 45 of Kahalu upazila in Bogura district.  Read: Faridpur violence: 48-yr-old accused dies in police custody Placed on two-day remand police took him into custody on Monday. “There are 15 CCTV cameras inside the police station. The CCTV footage has shown that the accused tore down the blanket inside the cell and hanged himself from the ventilator,” he said. However, a three-member probe body, headed by Additional deputy commissioner (Airport Zone) was formed to look into the matter and find whether there was any negligence on part of duty police , he added. Read: Raihan’s death in police custody: Suspended SI Akbar held The committee has been asked to submit the report within three working days. Police will take necessary steps on the basis of the probe report, said Foyjul.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday alleged that writer Mushtaq Ahmed was tortured to death in prison.

Writer Mushtaq Ahmed, who died in police custody on Thursday after almost 10 months of incarceration in a Digital Security Act case, was laid to rest on Friday night at Azimpur graveyard.

Thirteen Ambassadors and High Commissioners stationed in Dhaka on Friday urged the government of Bangladesh to conduct a "swift, transparent, and independent inquiry" into the full circumstances of writer Mushtaq Ahmed’s death in police custody.

Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) members on Wednesday night arrested another accused police official in a case over the death of Raihan Ahmed at Bandarbazar police outpost.