Violent cops closed in Khulna
The officer-in-charge and three constables of Khulna Sadar police have been closed to police headquarters for involvement in torturing two Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal activists picked up during Sunday's hartal.
Khulna Metropolitan Police Commissioner Shafiqur Rahman took the disciplinary action against the four on Sunday night following media reports on the pro-opposition JCD activists being tortured in custody.
According to a police probe, the four -- OC SM Kamruzzaman and constables Abu Sufian, Mamun Akhter and Shudhanshu -- brutally beat up Mahmudul Haque alias Tito, a student of BL University College, and Ferdausur Rahman alias Munna, a student of Govt Azam Khan Commerce College.
Tito, former joint secretary of Khulna MMCT College unit of JCD, pro-BNP student organisation, and Munna were hung from the ceiling and blindfolded while being beaten, the report said.
Police picked up the two during a clash between pro-hartal pickets and law enforcers at Tutpara Central Road intersection in the city around 10:00am Sunday, said eyewitnesses.
Informed by relatives of the duo, a horde of journalists rushed to the police station and took photographs of the two being tortured.
Fearful of media coverage, the OC had ordered his junior officers to persuade the journalists not to publish any stories on the matter but to no avail.
Kamruzzaman, however, denies the allegation and claims that Munna and Tito were involved in a petrol bomb attack on a police team during hartal hours on Sunday. None of the cops, however, was injured.
Talking to The Daily Star, he also added, “We hung and blindfolded the two only to scare them into giving us the names of the people who were involved in the clash.”
The metropolitan magistrate's court in Khulna yesterday afternoon sent Tito and Munna to jail and permitted police to interrogate them for only one day.
The injured activists told The Daily Star that they were not involved in hurling bomb at the police on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Khulna City BNP President Nazrul Islam Manju, also a lawmaker, yesterday demanded immediate removal of OC Kamruzzaman from police service.
At a press briefing, he also demanded unconditional withdrawal of all “false” cases against detained leaders and workers of Khulna BNP.
ASK CONDEMNS
Human rights organisation Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) yesterday expressed grave concern over the incident of torture at the police station.
In a press release, it also called for punitive measures against the cops responsible.
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