Detained driver found dead in river

Body of an auto-rickshaw driver, who was detained by police on Sunday night, was recovered yesterday morning, from the river flowing by Dewanganj upazila headquarters.

The deceased was Rabiul Islam Apel, 26, son of Liakat Ali Tunu of Dalbari village under Dewanganj municipality.

During a drive against drug peddling, a police team led by Masudur Rahman, assistant sub-inspector of Dewanganj Police Station, detained Apel to search his easy-bike (auto-rickshaw) at a nearby intersection around 8:00pm on Sunday when Apel lost his consciousness, said Lutfor Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of the police station.

“Minutes after regaining consciousness, Apel managed to flee the scene and started running through Dewanganj Bazar while local people started chasing him, calling him a thief. At one stage, he jumped into the river to escape mob beating,” said the OC.

Later, police along with locals and men of Dewanganj Fire Station searched for him in the river for a couple of hours, but failed to find him on the night.

Around 9:30am yesterday, divers from Mymensingh Fire Station recovered the body from the river, said the OC.

The victim's family members alleged that police detained Apel from the intersection and took him to the police station and demanded a good amount of money for his release.

“As Apel declined to give the money, police tortured him and at one stage asked him to run away. Accordingly, he started running and finally jumped into the river to escape beating,” said victim's father Tunu.

“There were several injury marks on the body that also had marks of bleeding from the ears and nose. The police are responsible for the death of my son,” he said.

The OC refuted the allegations and said the body was sent to Jamalpur General Hospital morgue for autopsy.