Samar Krishna was framed

Family members and people from different walks of life yesterday demanded the release of Samar Krishna Chowdhury and withdrawal of the “false” cases against him.

They raised the demand at a human chain in front of Chittagong Press Club and threatened to launch strong protests.

Sixty-year-old Samar, who works as a lawyer's assistant in Chittagong judge's court, was arrested on May 29 in the port city. Later, police “recovered” 310 Yaba pills and a light gun with four bullets from his residence in Boalkhali upazila and filed two cases -- one for narcotics trade and the other for possession of arms.

The demonstrators said police cooked up the story to frame Samar.

Speaking at the human chain, Samar's daughter Alaknanda Chowdhury said police did so on the instruction of UK expatriate Sanjoy Das because his father gave legal help to a person locked in a land dispute with Sanjoy.

Sanjoy, however, denied the allegation.

Nazim Uddin Shyamol, president of Chittagong Journalists Union, said it has been a practice of police to implicate people by using Yaba pills. Samar's case reveals how blatantly police and law enforcers go beyond their accountability, he said.

He demanded Samar's release through a proper investigation and punishment of the officer-in-charge of Boalkhali Police Station for his involvement in the “plot”.

Sukhlal Das, general secretary of Chittagong Press Club, said there were many allegations against the OC including his “relations” with drug dealers but the authorities did not take any steps against him. “This is the reason the OC dare to implicate people in false cases and mints money in illegal ways,” he said.

He urged the authorities to withdraw the OC from Boalkhali Police Station and take punitive measures against him within 24 hours. “Otherwise, we'll announce strong protest programmes like besieging the police station,” he added.

Denying the allegations, OC Himangshu Das Rana said police arrested Samar on valid grounds, and there was no instruction from anyone.

Sajib Kumar Ghose, professor of marketing of Chittagong University, and Kishan Chowdhury, a former councillor, also spoke at the protest programme.