Man dies in jail custody

A 38-year-old man died under unusual circumstances in jail custody yesterday. He had injury marks on his body.

Family alleged that he was tortured by prison guards or inmates.

Rubel Dey, of South Jayisthapura in Chattogram's Boalkhali upazila, died at Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH).

Boalkhali police detained him on January 27 night while he was selling homemade liquor in Jayisthapura area. Later, police recovered 200 litres of liquor from his possession and Sub-inspector SM Abu Musa of the police station filed a case against him under the Narcotics Control Act.

Next day, Rubel was sent to the Chattogram Central Jail by a court. However, his family and relatives claimed that Rubel, who was a farmer, used to drink sometimes.

His cousin Rajib Dey told The Daily Star at CMCH, "After the arrest, we met my brother at Chattogram Court building on January 28 evening and found he was alright. On Friday, we went to the Chattogram jail to visit him, he was carried in a wheelchair and guarded by four prison guards.

"We asked the guards about his condition, but they did not reply. We found an injury mark on his right eyebrow and scars on his body. At that time, he was in one kind of unconscious state and we tried to talk to him but failed," said Rajib, a garage owner.

He added that they immediately spoke to their lawyer and filed an appeal with the court on Sunday seeking an order on the jail superintendent to take steps for better treatment of his brother. The court issued an order in line with their request.

Yesterday, hearing that Rubel died at CMCH, Rajib went there and found his body on a stretcher.

A prison guard said Rubel was rushed to CMCH in the early morning with chest pain and declared dead by doctors, Rajib said, adding, "We found bruises on the chest, back, private part and hands that indicated that he was tortured before death."

Muhammed Alamin, executive magistrate of the Chattogram district administration, examined the body at the hospital morgue and prepared an inquest report.

He told this correspondent that an injury mark was found on the forehead, scars on different parts and bruises on wrists.

Family said Rubel has two daughters and his wife is pregnant.

Muhammed Manjur Hossain, senior jail superintendent of Chattogram Central Jail, said, "Rubel was suffering from withdrawal symptoms. For this, he was shifted to Padma Ward No 3 from another ward. He complained of chest pain at night and we took him to the prison hospital."

Rubel was moved to CMCH in the morning, where he was declared dead, Manjur said, claiming that he was not tortured inside prison.

Asked about the injury marks and bruises, he said as he had withdrawal symptoms, he got the minor injury after falling near the toilet. Bruises might have developed due to handcuffs.

However, SI Musa, who arrested Rubel, said, "We did not find any kind of abnormality in his behaviour when he was under our custody."

Rubel's lawyer Ajoy Dhar said the jail superintendent could not deny his responsibility because his client was alright under police custody.

The post-mortem was done around 4:30pm.