‘Tortured to death’

Not in a clash, the three boys who died in a Jashore juvenile correction centre on Thursday were allegedly tortured to death by several staffers and senior inmates.

The allegation was raised by the injured inmates who had also been through similar abuse and are undergoing treatment at Jashore General Hospital.

They said they, including the deceased, were tortured in two phases from noon to evening on Thursday as a "punishment" of their involvement in a scuffle with the head guard of the centre on August 3.

The authorities, however, earlier claimed the casualties took place following a clash between two groups of inmates.

Today, the department of social services formed a two-member committee to investigate the incident.

The committee has been asked to submit a report within three working days.

Meanwhile, police yesterday took 10 people, including several officials and inmates of the correction centre, to custody for interrogation.

According to the injured teenagers, they were called to the office of Masum Billah, assistant director of the centre, around noon.

Several officials, ansar members and some senior inmates were already in the room.

At first, the teenagers were shown a CCTV footage of the August 3 incident and suddenly the beating started.

At one point, the senior inmates pulled the hands of the teenagers through a grill while the officials, including Masum, beat them ruthlessly until they got tired.

Then the officials handed over the charge of beating to the senior inmates. The beating continued until some of them fell unconscious, the injured boys said.

The second phase of torture started around 3:00pm until they lost their consciousness once again, the injured boys at the hospital said, adding that three of them -- Parvez Hasan Rabbi, 18, Rasel alias Sujon, 18, and Naeem Hossain, 17 -- never regained their senses and died in the evening.

Asraf Hossain, superintendent of police in Jashore, said they also found the injured teenagers' claim to be true.

No one has been arrested in this connection until last night, the SP said, adding that filing of a case was underway.

The family members of the deceased and injured boys rushed to Jashore General Hospital after hearing the news.

They said there were signs of severe torture on the bodies of the deceased.

Jashore Deputy Commissioner Tamizul Islam Khan said it was not possible to say what caused the incident without investigation.

Necessary action will be taken after receiving the probe report, he said.

Asit Kumar Saha, deputy director of Jashore Social Welfare Department declined to comment in this issue since the incident is under investigation.

Ain O Salish Kendra in a statement expressed grave concern over the incident today.