Harassing Villagers: Tangail police station besieged

Residents of Rokkhit Belta village in Tangail Sadar upazila laid siege to Tangail Model Police Station yesterday morning protesting police harassment as well as realising extortion in the name of investigation.

Hundreds of villagers, including women and children, came to the town with a procession and staged a sit-in in front of the police station, demanding exemplary punishment of Sub-Inspector Jesmin Akter of the police station and her local source Bakkar Hossain.

The agitating villagers later left the station after senior police officials assured them of taking necessary steps against the responsible police officer and her source after investigation.

On March 28, police recovered the slit-throat body of housewife Rezia Begum, 25, from a paddy field at the village. Later, a case was filed against unidentified criminals with the police station. SI Jesmin was the investigation officer of the case.

Since filing of the case, police started detaining villagers one after another for quizzing and later released them from the police station after realising money from them. If anyone denied giving money, he or she was threatened to implicate in the case, alleged the villagers.

On Saturday, locals caught Bakkar Hossain, a local police source, when he went to the house of Haji Ainal Haque and demanded Tk 50,000 from his wife.

Being informed, SI Jesmin along with a police team went to the spot, rescued Bakkar and also threatened the villagers saying that none will be spared if anything happened with Bakkar, said the villagers.

Harez Ali of the village alleged that police detained him and took him to the police station last week in the name of the investigation. They later released him in exchange of Tk 20, 000, he alleged.

“SI Jesmin detained my husband for quizzing recently. We later released him in exchange of Tk 30,000,” alleged Sufia Begum of the same village.

Contacted, SI Jesmin refuted all allegations brought against her and said she has just performed her duty.

Sanjit Kumar Roy, superintendent of police (SP), said police source Bakkar was arrested after filing of an extortion case against him on Saturday night while SI Jesmin was closed to the district police lines yesterday.