Court dismisses attempted murder case against cops

A Dhaka court yesterday dismissed an attempted murder case filed against 25 policemen, including a former ADC and AC of Mohammadpur zone, for assaulting Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque in July last year.
The accused include the then additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Harun-or-Rashid and assistant commissioner (AC) of Mohammadpur zone Biplob Sarker.
Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Hasibul Haque passed the order after Detective Branch of Police submitted a report saying that the charges brought against the police officials are not proven.
The court also rejected a petition submitted on behalf of the complainant saying that they would file a no-confidence (naraji) petition against the police report.
In the probe report, DB Assistant Commissioner Obaidul Haque said the incident took place after Zainul Abdin behaved arrogantly while his accomplices provoked the law enforcers.
So police acted accordingly to bring the situation under control, it said.
On July 10 last year, BNP lawmaker Ashraf Uddin Nizan filed the case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka accusing the 25 policemen of assaulting Zainul Abdin Farroque four days earlier.
After a hearing, the court ordered the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner to take legal action, upon investigation, against the policemen responsible for the assault on Zainul Abdin.
A total of 22 lawmakers led by Farroque brought out a procession on Manik Mia Avenue in the capital around 7:50am on the first day of the opposition-sponsored 48-hour hartal.
But two police officers along with their teams in a pre-planned way stopped them and hurled abuse at them. They also beat up the BNP leader leaving him seriously injured, says the case statement.
On the other hand, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police after a few hours of the incident filed a case accusing 10 to 12 people including Farroque of assaulting policemen.