Custodial death sparks protests

Shamim Sarkar

A man was allegedly tortured to death in police custody at Savar on the city outskirts yesterday, triggering angry protests from locals.
Shamim Sarkar, a 30-year-old land broker, was tortured after plain-clothes police picked him up along with his nephew Sohel, 28, at Hemayetpur around 10:30pm Wednesday, his family claims.
At around 6:00am, a group of policemen, who also were in plainclothes, took Shamim to Mitford Hospital in Old Dhaka and left the scene hurriedly, hospital sources say.
Doctors declared him dead after he was taken to the emergency unit.
The death of Shamim, son of Abdul Halim Sarkar of Hemayetpur, comes only about two weeks after the custodial death of a youth in Sonargaon upazila in Narayanganj.
Contacted by the family over the phone at 2:00am yesterday, police said if the money was not paid, they would implicate Shamim in such serious crimes that he would face ten years' imprisonment, the victim's brother Amin Sarkar said.
At about 8:00am, relatives along with some locals went to Savar Police Station but got no information about him.
Around 11:00am, they came to know from a Savar police source that there was an unidentified body at Mitford Hospital. They went to the hospital around noon and identified the body as Shamim's.
After the news of the death spread yesterday, locals blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway by burning tyres and vandalising at least 20 vehicles. They also beat up a constable.
The two-hour blockade caused immense sufferings for people as they had to walk in the rain.
The highway was freed after the victim's nephew Sohel was released. The Daily Star could not reach him.
Around 11:30pm yesterday, Amin Sarkar filed a murder case with Savar Police Station accusing five policemen of murder.
TORTURE?
The magistrate's inquest report has found injury marks on different parts of his body, including his eyes, hands and legs.
Superintendent of Police of Dhaka district Habibur Rahman told The Daily Star preliminary investigation had found that Shamim died in police custody.
No action has been taken against any police official as it will be clear following the post-mortem whether any torture was committed, he added.
Contacted, Mostafa Kamal, officer-in-charge of Savar Police Station, said Shamim was rushed to Mitford Hospital as he fell ill before being taken to the police station. He also claimed Shamim was arrested in a robbery case filed with the police station on March 2.
"Shamim remained absconding before he was arrested from Hemayetpur CNG Station at night," the official added.
The body was handed over to the family after post-mortem at Sir Salimullah Medical College morgue.