Man dies after cops ‘beat him’
Police say he ran away, died of exhaustion; family says he was hit in the chest
A 53-year-old man of Sunamganj's Tahirpur upazila died on Tuesday evening allegedly after being beaten up by police during an arrest attempt.
Romij Miah of Burungachhara in the upazila was a convenience store owner.
His family claimed that police beat him up but left without detaining him as he had collapsed.
Police claimed that Romij ran away during the arrest attempt and died of exhaustion as he had been suffering from breathing and heath complications for a long time.
Romij's wife Josna Begum said, "My husband was at his shop in front of our home that evening when two people on a motorcycle went there and hit his chest first.
"They then grabbed him and beat him up while trying to get him on the motorcycle. After my husband started bleeding from the nose, they left," she said.
She alleged that the people identified themselves as policemen.
Contacted, Rajon Kumar Das, additional superintendent of police (crime and operations) of Sunamganj District Police, said, "Deceased Romij was accused in seven cases and a group of policemen went to arrest him with a warrant. During the arrest attempt, he [Romij] managed to run away through the backdoor of his shop and took cover in a nearby house.
"After police had reached the spot, they were confronted by other people at the house and by this time, Romij ran away to a house some 10 to 15 minutes away. Exhausted from the running, he collapsed on the ground and died," he said.
"He was suffering from breathing and heart issues and was treated at a hospital recently. We have found no sign of him being beaten up," he said.
He claimed that they learnt about his health issues after talking to his family and others on the spot.
An autopsy was done at the Sunamganj Sadar Hospital. After getting the autopsy report, it will be clear, he added.