TIB questions exclusion of ex-Sonagazi OC from PBI charge-sheet
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) yesterday demanded judicial probe into the role of police, especially that of former Sonagazi Police Station Officer-in-Charge Moazzem Hossain, in the brutal killing of madrasa student Nusrat Jahan Rafi.
Issuing a statement, the Bangladesh chapter of the Germany-based anti-graft watchdog said it thinks exclusion of the ex-Sonagazi OC from the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) charge-sheet is “questionable”.
On Wednesday, PBI submitted an 808-page charge-sheet before the court of Feni Judicial Magistrate Jakir Hossain. The principal of Sonagazi Islamia Senior Fazil Madrasa Siraj Ud Doula and 15 others were charged for the killing of Nusrat.
In the statement, TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said, “Although PBI has submitted charge-sheet following prompt investigation done with significant effort after Nusrat’s killing, we cannot be assured of its perfection and objectivity. Because, people of the country learnt through mass media about ex-Sonagazi OC’s questionable role the entire time -- since the day her family filed the case after Nusrat became subject of sexual harassment till the brutal attack carried on her.
“Especially, specific allegation has been raised against him for ‘trying to bury the killing incident as suicide’ and for ‘having link in giving protection to the killers’.
“Amid such a reality, it is not unusual to raise questions whether there is any logical reasoning to exclude him from the charge-sheet, or whether he has been given impunity for being a member of the law enforcement agency,” the statement said.
Nusrat, a student of Sonagazi Islamia Senior Fazil Madrasa, was set ablaze on April 6 for refusing to withdraw a sexual harassment case against madrasaa principal Siraj Ud Doula.
The Alim examinee succumbed to her injuries at Dhaka Medical College Hospital five days later, triggering a public outcry.
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