Witness tells of torture by Rab

A police official and prosecution witness in the sensational 10-truck arms haul cases yesterday told a court he was brutally tortured by Rapid Action Battalion in custody and was shown arrested in another case for his involvement in the seizure.
Helal Uddin Bhuiyan, the then officer-in-charge of Koilar Depot police outpost, broke down while narrating the torture before Judge SM Mojibur Rahman of the Special Tribunal, Chittagong.
Helal is one of the few policemen who rushed to the CUFL jetty where the smuggled arms and ammunition were being offloaded on April 2, 2004.
The court started recording his deposition at 2:45pm and adjourned the proceedings at 3:30pm. The court is scheduled to resume recording his deposition today.
Helal said he was on duty at Bangla Motor in Dhaka on August 19, 2005 when some plainclothes detectives took him to an office of the Detective Branch. From there Rab personnel took him to the Rab Intelligence Wing's office in Uttara, he added.
Sergeant Alauddin, the then OC of Bandar police outpost who also took part in the seizure, was also taken to the Rab office the same day. Helal said Rab Intelligence Wing Commanding Officer Lt Col Gulzar interrogated him about the seizure.
The two police officials were taken to the Rab-7 office at Patenga in Chittagong the next day and were produced before CO Lt Col Emdad.
Helal said, "As we entered the CO's room, he asked who Sergeant Helal was. When I introduced myself, he slapped me so hard that I fell on the floor. The CO then started beating me with an iron rod. My left leg was broken due to the beating. The CO even threatened me with death in crossfire."
Helal submitted an X-ray report to the court as evidence of his broken leg.
"I cried and asked the CO what my crime was. He blamed me for the country's situation at the time," stated Helal. He later told the CO that he had gone to the jetty on the orders of his superior officials. The CO later ordered his treatment and he was given three injections, Helal added.
Helal was subsequently shown arrested in an arms case filed on August 19, 2005 with Sudharam police station in Noakhali in connection with the theft of two AK-47 rifles from the arms cache. He was also sent to Noakhali jail, said prosecution lawyer and Chittagong Metropolitan Public Prosecutor (PP) Advocate Kamal Uddin Ahmed.
The prosecution submitted a petition on August 26 praying for a recall of the two witnesses -- Sergeant Helal and Sergeant Alauddin.
The defence yesterday filed a petition against the prosecution's move for recall and requested the court to cancel their names as witnesses in the cases.
Advocate Kamrul Islam Sazzad said they opposed the petition as the two sergeants had given statements to the court earlier and had also been cross-examined.
The court, however, rejected the opposition and started recording Helal's deposition. The PP said he had recalled the two witnesses according to Section 540 under the Penal Code since the two had fresh and vital information regarding the cases.
CROSS-EXAMINATION OF EX-CID DIG FARRUKH ENDS
Earlier, the cross-examination of another prosecution witness and former deputy inspector general of CID Farrukh Ahmed was completed at 1:30pm yesterday.
Farrukh's cross-examination could not be held on the last scheduled date on July 10 due to his absence. Farrukh told the court he fell ill immediately after reaching Dhaka from Chittagong following a three-day cross-examination.
He told the court he had informed the prosecution about his illness on July 10, but the court proceedings had ended before he made the call.
The prosecution had already termed the witness' absence an "abnormal incident" as Farrukh could not be traced since July 9.
The former DIG later said he had switched off his phone as someone was repeatedly asking him over phone about his court appearance.
Farrukh was part of the five-member probe body formed by the home ministry immediately after the arms seizure.