Hung upside down, beaten up brutally

The man, whose death has sparked protests in Sunamganj, was brutally tortured in custody at Shantiganj Police Station, said two witnesses.

Police arrested the victim, Wazir Mia, and two others on early February 10 on charges of stealing cows.

The other two arrestees are Shahidul Islam and Akhter Miah. All of them are residents of Shatrumardan area in Shantiganj upazila.

Yesterday, Shahidul and Akhter shared the horrific description of brutal torture at the police station.

"Police arrested us around 12:30am on February 10. When we were arrested, another accused of the case Shamim Miah was with the police team at that time. We think that Shamim acted as an informer of police," said Shahidul.

"Police started beating us on the way to the police station. We reached the police station in around half an hour. Then, they [policemen] tied our hands and legs and started beating again on the soles of the feet," he said.

"Mainly, three sub-inspectors -- Debasis Sutradhar, Akhtaruzzaman and Pardon Kumar Singha -- beat us," he added.

"At one stage, the policemen became even more furious at Wazir. They hung Wazir upside down and brutally beat him on his bare-chested body," he further added.

"Such brutality continued for at least the next two hours. We became sick. But the condition of Wazir was very critical. Then, police took us to Sunamganj Sadar Hospital around 3:00am," said Akhter.

After receiving primary treatment, police took back Shahidul and Akhter to the police station. But they kept Wazir in the hospital as his condition was not good.

"The next morning, police took back Wazir to the police station and police produced us before the court that granted bail to us after a few hours," said Akhter, adding, "All these brutalities happened with all three of us, while Shamim remained untouched."

Talking to The Daily Star, dozens of people in Shatrumardan area said that Shamim was a professional thief. This newspaper, however, could not verify the allegations.

Earlier on January 20, a group of locals including Wazir filed a police complaint against Shamim. Police later arrested Shamim on the charge of stealing cows.

During interrogation, Shamim cited Wazir as the mastermind of the theft gang. That is why, police arrested Wazir, said police. He was still behind the bars.

Contacted yesterday, Wazir's brother Dalim Mia once again claimed that police started beating Wazir in front of the family members when he was arrested.

After his death, villagers blocked Sunamganj-Sylhet road at Pagla Bazar for three hours, staged a demonstration and demanded punishment from the policemen, who allegedly tortured Wazir.

Contacted on Monday, Superintendent of Police in Sunamganj Mizanur Rahman, however, said there would be an autopsy and actions would be taken if evidence of torture is found.

Police formed a three-member committee to investigate the incident.

Meanwhile, Sunamganj district administration yesterday formed a three-member probe body headed by additional district magistrate Anwar-ul-Hakim to investigate the incident. The body has been asked to submit its report by Thursday.