‘Torture By Cops’: Natore court orders SP to sue five policemen
A Natore court yesterday ordered the district superintendent of police to file a case against five policemen for torturing three men in custody.
The five cops are Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) of Baraigram Sharif Al Rajib, Officer-in-Charge Md Ujjal Hossain of Lalpur Police Station, sub-inspectors Md Zahid Hasan and Omar Farooq Shimul, and a constable.
Senior Judicial Magistrate of Lalpur Cognisance Court Md Muslim Uddin also ordered the SP to report to the court tomorrow.
Bench assistant of Lalpur Cognisance Court Abdullah Biswas told The Daily Star that in statements given to the court, Md Sohag Hossain, Md Shamim Molla, and Md Salam complained that they were tortured to falsely confess that they carjacked a three-wheeler.
Sohag in his statement said he was detained around 8:45pm on July 9 and taken to Lalpur Police Station. OC Ujjal immediately blindfolded him and started beating him up, he said in the statement.
The OC beat him up again on the night of July 11. He was thrashed on the soles of his feet and kicked in the scrotum.
ASP Sharif then told Sohag that if he did not confess before the magistrate, he will have him placed on remand, Biswas said.
Salam told the magistrate that police arrested him from his home on July 9 around 1:00am. When the OC entered the police station, he started slapping Salam. He was thrown to the floor and SI Zahid and SI Omar slammed the leg of a table on his little finger. They pressed down on the table repeatedly. They kept doing this and beating Salam on the legs.
On July 12 afternoon, SI Omar took a steel pipe and beat up Salam with it from the waist down.
Shamim stated that police picked him up from his home on July 10 around 3:30pm and that he was beaten the whole way to the police station, said Biswas quoting his statement to the magistrate.
He was then taken to Kushtia to pick up another suspect Md Rakibul Islam Rakib. Shamim was beaten again as Rakib's shop was closed and he could not be found, said Biswas quoting the statements.
The next day around 11:00am, a constable, SI Zahid and SI Omar took him to a section of the police station not covered by CCTV cameras, blindfolded him, and thrashed him with a piece of bamboo.
They tied up his legs, beat him repeatedly on the soles of his feet, and stomped on his chest. The cops threatened to rub chilli powder on his private parts if he did not confess to the magistrate.
The three and Rakib, who was later arrested, were sent to the court on July 12 and the investigating officer of the case, SI Omar, sought their confessions be recorded.
But instead of confessing, Sohag alleged torture.
The magistrate saw the injuries on their bodies and directed the jail superintendent of Natore and Natore Modern Sadar Hospital's superintendent to examine the accused and prepare medical reports on the injuries and submit them to the court by 4:00pm yesterday.
The reports on Shamim and Salam mentioned evidence of torture, Biswas said.
The magistrate then told the SP to direct a policeman not under the officers in question to investigate.
Natore SP Md Saifur Rahman, however, told this paper, "When they tried to catch the accused in the auto-rickshaw robbery case, they began to run away, and fell and hurt themselves."
He said legal action would be taken only after investigations into the claims.
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