Fire to Santal Houses: Explain why evidence destroyed
The High Court yesterday asked the Rangpur Sugar Mills authority to explain why the evidence of setting fire to Santal houses in Gaibandha had been destroyed.
The mills' Managing Director Abdul Awal has to submit a report on the matter in 30 days, said an HC bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Mohammed Ullah.
The order followed a writ petition according to which the crime scene where houses of Santal people were torched on November 6 last year have been destroyed by tractors on instructions from the MD of the sugar mill.
Supreme Court lawyer Suprokash Datta filed the petition in December last year citing that destroying crime scenes is a punishable offence under the Penal Code and that police did not prevent Rangpur Suger Mills from destroying the evidence.
Responding to this, the court asked the government and police to explain why their failure to take legal actions against the sugar mill's official under the Penal Code should not be declared illegal.
The home secretary, industries secretary, superintendent of Gaibandha police and officer-in-charge of Gobindaganj Police Station have been made respondents, Suprokash told The Daily Star.
Meanwhile, Gaibandha's SP Ashraful Alam appeared before another HC bench and offered unconditional apology for writing words “Bangalee Duskritikary (miscreants)” in a report that he had submitted to it. In the report, he said the November 6 clash in Gobindaganj of Gaibandha was between “Bangalee Duskritikary” and Santal people.
The HC bench of Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice Krishna Debnath accepted his apology and exempted him from personal appearance in further court proceedings.
It also gave time to Chief Judicial Magistrate of Gaibandha Shahidul Islam until January 31 for submitting an investigation report on the incident.
During the hearing on a writ petition, the HC on December 14 last year asked Shahidul to find out if police had been involved in setting fire to the Santal houses and who were responsible for the incident.
He was given 15 days at the time for the probe, but yesterday he prayed to the court for an additional one month's time, saying that he could not complete the investigation for staying abroad for an urgent task.
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