Another case of custodial excesses

IN yet another case of brutal torture in police custody, a student of City College of the capital has been undergoing treatment with one of his legs damaged beyond repair at the burn unit of the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).  After arresting the student nicknamed Jisan on suspicion of involvement in the murder of a fellow student,  some members of the Dhanmodi police allegedly even threatened to kill the boy,  unless his family members paid them a large sum of ransom money. It may be recalled that hardly a week and a half before, Sujon, a Mirpur jhut trader, was beaten to death in police custody. There is serious reason to be disturbed about the reported criminal trend among some members of the police department.

Such outrageous behaviour of the police, as reported, should concern every sane member of society. If a lawman behaves like an outlaw, where will the citizens turn to for protection? Considering the recurrent nature of the incidents, we have little room for dismissing those as being aberrant, or inconsequential. The government can ill- afford to take lightly or with a denial mode these instances of police behaving unprofessionally and sometimes criminally.  

To arrest any further erosion in professionalism in the police department, the government must deal with its (police's) errant members with an iron hand. In this particular case, those in police department found involved in maiming the college boy in custody must be brought to exemplary justice.