Man dies 'in police custody' in Sylhet

Abdul Khalique

A 36-year-old man, arrested for possessing drugs, was allegedly tortured to death in police custody in Sylhet city Tuesday night.
Police denied the claim and said Abdul Khalique died a normal death.
The victim, who lived in the village Bohorgram of Gowainghat, had been arrested by detectives in the city on Tuesday night with 10 bottles of Phensedyl.
An accused in seven narcotics case, Khalique came out on bail from custody 17 days ago and again got involved in drug peddling, police said.
Commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police Nibash Chandra Majhi said a one-member investigation committee was formed to verify the claim of torture.
The committee would file a report within three days, he told The Daily Star.
A five-member team led by Sub-inspector Abdur Rahman of the Detective Branch of Police had arrested him.
The detectives said Khalique fell sick some time after the arrest and was rushed to the nearby Ibn Sina Hospital and then to MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead.
The medical officer at the medical college hospital's emergency department, Ujjal Kanti Dutta, however, said the man was brought dead to the hospital.
Mokbul Ali, father of the victim, said there were injury marks on the arms and back of his son's body. Khalique was an able-bodied man, he claimed, and he did not have any major health problem.
Mokbul said he did not know when his son died. Police phoned Khalique's wife at midnight to collect his body from the medical college hospital, he said.
Mokbul said his son had studied up to class VI and used to work under a construction contractor for years. "I didn't know about his complicity with drug peddling."
He said he would file a written complaint with the authorities concerned over the death.