Locals attack police station in Rangpur, claiming man 'beaten to death' by law enforcers
The Haragachh Police Station in Kaunia upazila of Rangpur was attacked this evening after locals claimed that a man was "beaten to death by police" over consuming drugs.
Police, however, denied the allegation locals brought against them.
The deceased Tajul Islam (55) was a resident of Dalalhaat village, reports our Dinajpur correspondent quoting locals.
According to locals, a team of Haragachh Police Station launched a drive at Dalalhaat (Noyatari) village around 6:30 pm today and arrested Tajul along with drugs from his home.
As he was about to lose consciousness, police beat up Tajul and pushed him towards a wall -- leading to his death on the spot, claimed locals.
Later, police left the spot leaving Tajul's body at Notun Bazar, said Md Asad, a resident of the area.
Hundreds of agitating locals later laid siege to the police station and threw brickbats targeting police personnel. They also vandalised several police vehicles at the time, said witnesses.
They also damaged windows of the police station, said the witnesses.
Police had to fire tear shells and rubber bullets to bring the situation under control.
Additional police forces from the Rangpur Metropolitan Police Lines went to the spot after 40 minutes since the station came under attack.
Around 9:20 pm, the situation improved a little, said a policeman seeking to remain anonymous.
A large number of people have taken position in the area surrounding the police station. A tense situation was prevailing in the area till filing the report around 10:50 pm.
Kaunia Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Tahmina Tarin told The Daily Star, "He (Tajul) was addicted to drugs. Police went there to arrest him and he died on the spot. Details will be informed after an autopsy."
"Additional police were deployed in the police station area," said the UNO, adding, "The situation is now under control even though locals took position on roads in different parts of the area."
Shawkat Ali Sarkar, officer-in-charge of Haragachh Police Station, said, "Police went to the spot and caught Tajul red-handed, after receiving information that Tajul was consuming heroin. The man fell sick when he was handcuffed after being arrested."
Police handed Tajul over to locals as he started defecating and left the spot. "Shortly afterwards, we came to know that Tajul died. He has not tortured in any way," added the OC.
It also could not be immediately known about injuries following rubber bullets being fired to disperse the agitating crowd, added our Dinajpur correspondent.