Torture on BCL leaders: BIRDEM staff discloses scuffle in details in a letter

There was a scuffle between two visiting groups at the BIRDEM hospital in Shahbagh before the torture on three Chhatra League (BCL) leaders at the adjacent police station on Saturday.

A security official of the hospital – Wares Ali – described the incident in details in his letter to the high ups.

According to the letter, a group of visitors engaged in a heated dispute in front of the exercise tolerance test (ETT) room in the hospital around 8:00 pm. Noticing the incident, Wares Ali intervened and managed to pacify the two sides. He later called the police through the national emergency service.

The quarreling visitors initially refused to disclose their identities. In the face of repeated requests, one identified him as the president’s assistant private secretary (APS), while the other as additional deputy commissioner (ADC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). Wares reported the issue to the hospital authorities and called the police.

Later, Kamrul Hasan, assistant director of admin section of the hospital, said there was a scuffle between the visitors. They reported the issue to the police, who later took the concerned individuals away.

He also said they came to know about the individuals' identities through media reports on the following day.

Wares Ali could not be reached for comment as he was absent at the hospital during the visit, while his colleagues refused to provide his contact number.

The incident led to the brutal torture on three BCL men in the Shahbagh police station as the APS engaged them in his personal dispute with ADC Harun in the BIRDEM Hospital.

Regarding the incident, ADC Sanjida Afrin, wife of APS Ajijul Haque, said she went to the hospital and sought help from her senior colleague ADC Harun to get a physician. At one stage, her husband appeared in the scene along with some others and attacked ADC Harun.

During a visit to the spot on Wednesday afternoon, the ETT room staff were asked what actually happened on the day, but none of them spoke out.