The persistent trend in custodial deaths

The combustible political situation that has been stifling the country has served to distract us from one insidious disease that we have long been plagued by: That of violation of fundamental human rights by none other than the all-powerful law enforcing agencies. With the budget stealing the limelight and Jamaat going into hiding after several rounds of violence on the streets, the key political players seem to be resting awhile perhaps to gather up steam for a renewed spate of activities. Meanwhile, the law enforcement agencies are back to their usual, self. The recent incidents of two custodial deaths testify to this as well as raising some fundamental questions as to their overall role in maintaining law and order.
Shamim Reza, a youth of Sonargaon Upazila, Narayanganj, was allegedly picked up by police on May 14, forced to make a confessional statement before a court on May 20, and died on the morning of May 22 while in custody. In less than two weeks time, Shamim Sarkar, another young man of Hemayetpur Upazila, Savar , was picked up by police on June 5 and died next day in police custody. Victims' families confirmed they were in good shape when arrested. In both cases, however, police denied allegations of torture and putting pressure on the victims' families for bribe .
Two committees were formed to probe Reza's death. The first one, however, included Uttam Prasad, an ASP of Narayanganj, who was allegedly involved in the torture of the victim. A second three-member committee, therefore, was formed with Dhaka Range Additional DIG (Crime) Golam Faruq leading the team. The first committee dropped ASP Uttam Prasad, thanks to persistent follow-up of the case by The Daily Star, and conducted its probe. Both committees confirmed brutal custodial torture on Reza. The second committee confirmed acceptance of bribe from Reza's family by OC Arup Tarafdar. It also validated his relatives' claim that he was confined to the residential quarters of police under the watch of Arup Tarafdar for six days which is completely illegal.  Any arrestee, must be produced before a court within 24 hours and it is upon the court to decide on the next course of actions.
Following the probe reports, ASP Uttam Prasad, OC Arup Tarafdar and Sub-Inspector Paltu Ghosh were withdrawn; a process of posting Prasad to another district is underway while the other two have been attached respectively to the Dhaka Range and Narayanganj Police Lines. The probe is still on.
This has become a trend, an established one at that. First, media reports dig out horrifying details of custodial torture, then probe committees are formed, then allegations are proved true and finally the responsible officials are withdrawn from their stations. After that, as it is in this country, more important political events such as Padma bridge or Hefajat-e-Islam or death of more than 1100 people in Rana Plaza collapse dominate media attention, and we the general people, forget everything and find ourselves occupied by the issues at hand.
We do not ask what happened to the Limon case even though he is still an accused in a few cases; we forget to ask what happened to all those cases of enforced disappearance including the one of labour leader Aminul Islam ; or what happened to the responsible police officers who made a criminal of an innocent DU student Abdul Quadar; or the arrogant officers who molested Farzana and beat up and robbed her parents in a police club next to Dhaka Magistrate's court in May 2012 only because they went there to seek justice. In some cases these police officers are "closed", in some cases transferred, but never punished at least not that we know of. And if the implicated officer is politically affiliated, then he will remain untouched.
The case of Shamim Sarkar, however, makes us a bit optimistic and apprehensive at the same time. In a case filed by his elder brother, four accused (all of whom are police officers) were shown arrested and even granted five-day remand in two days after his death. This is an astonishing development, to say the least. Hardly ever before in Bangladesh's history has any case against the police been filed and action been taken so promptly. In Sarkar's case this development may be due to his alleged political affiliation. His death caused a veritable mayhem along the Dhaka-Aricha highway. If it be so, this development cannot be welcome. This is another proof that even justice depends on how strongly one is politically connected.
In addition to politicisation of the police force, there are several draconian laws such as Section 64 and Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrCP) which allow police high-handedness in matters of searching and arresting anyone upon suspicion. In spite of these sections, police are bound by law to not subject anyone to any form of custodial remand unless it is granted by a court.
Therefore, police excesses such as all the above-mentioned cases are punishable offence under the law. If this is the case, then why Rab and police brutalities are so rife in the country? The answer lies in the impunity with which they get away. The ex-Home minister played a majestic role in guaranteeing impunity to the errant elements of law enforcement agencies. In reply to a lawmaker's query in the parliament in March 2012, she claimed that victims of extrajudicial killings are criminals, not Rab or the police. Now it is Mr. Mohiuddin's turn to address this. We hope he will not repeat the injudicious remarks of  his predecessor, and will take every step necessary to ensure punishment to those responsible not only for the murders of Shamim Reza and Shamim Sarkar but also for all the yet-to-be-resolved cases of custodial torture and extrajudicial killings.

The writer is In-Charge, Daily Star Books.