Death in custody sparks protest

Death of an under trial prisoner in the district jail sparked protest by locals yesterday.
The deceased was identified as Abdul Khaleque, 50, a mason of Sakrail Purbopara village in Sadar upazila.
Police said, sub-inspector Anisur Rahman of Santosh police outpost arrested Khaleque on Saturday in a case filed on charge of committing robbery at a former police official's house in the town on May 30. The arrestee was produced before a court which sent him to jail.
Khaleque early yesterday took his life by hanging himself from a pipe of the jail toilet and his body was sent to Tangail General Hospital morgue for autopsy, said jail superintendent Abu Mohammad Fattah.
However, the deceased's wife Rabeya Begum alleged that her husband died due to torture by the law enforcers and no case was filed against him with any police station in the district.
Meanwhile, several hundred construction workers and locals yesterday demonstrated on the hospital premises, protesting the death of Khaleque.
The workers also went on indefinite strike, demanding arrest and punishment of those responsible for the death.