Dead Man Talking: IO says it was a ‘mistake’
It apparently wasn’t a case of a man speaking from beyond the grave, but one of utter carelessness.
The investigation officer (IO) who took the deposition of former Biddyakut UP chairman Abdur Rouf over a murder case in Nabinagar of Brahmanbaria erroneously wrote down the deposition date to be three months after Rouf’s death, a PBI investigation reveals.
The IO, Harunur Rashid, had also spoken to another witness Ajanta Kumar Bhadra and made a similar mistake, mentioning that deposition date to be at a time when the witness was in India.
“I recorded their deposition in the case diary as [to be on] January 31,” Harunur told The Daily Star yesterday. “I will narrate it to the court,” he added.
The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) said Rouf and Ajanta of Merkuta village had signed the bonds of witnesses served by Harunur and those were also dated wrong.
Earlier, The Daily Star found that Rouf died on November 2 last year and Ajanta went to India on January 9 for treatment and returned on February 8.
A copy of the bond that PBI said Ajanta signed, was sent to Ajanta yesterday.
After checking, he said he only signed the bond when an IO from the criminal investigation department took his deposition on September 14.
“The IO will face departmental proceedings for the mistakes,” PBI chief Banaj Kumar Majumder told The Daily Star on Monday.
Meanwhile, chief of PBI Banaj Kumar Majumdar on Monday issued an order directing all the IOs to mention the present state of witnesses who had earlier given depositions to previous IOs.
The IOs have to write down the exact date of recording the deposition, relevant address, and national identity and cellphone numbers, if available.
The IOs also have to attach the witness bonds in the case diary mentioning the time and date of when the depositions were recorded.
Besides, the IOs were also instructed to collect details including the NID numbers of those to be investigated and attach colour photos of important evidence with the case diary.
Referring to the Nabinagar Police Station murder case, the order said, “The carelessness of the IO has not only tarnished the image of the PBI, but also brought the credibility of the investigation of the case into question.”