Man dies after torture in police station
Case filed against two police officials in Sunamganj court
A case has been filed in the court over the death of a man, Uzir Mia, 40, in Santiganj of Sunamganj. Uzir died after allegedly tortured by police.
Dalim Mia, the brother of slain Uzir, lodged the case on Monday in the Sunamganj district and sessions judge court, accusing Santiganj police station sub-inspectors (SI) Debashish Sutradhar and Ala Uddin.
The public prosecutor (PP) Khairul Kabir said the case has been filed under the 15(2) article of the torture and custodial death (prevention) act-2013.
Police arrested Uzir Mia from his house at Shatrumardan village in Sunamganj on 9 February in a theft case. He fell sick severely in police custody, and later released, he died on 21 February.
According to the case statement, several incidents of theft were taking place at Shatrumardan village in Sunamganj. The list of the houses that were stolen includes Uzir Mia’s one.
Irate over the spate of theft, the villagers held several meetings and submitted a written complaint mentioning the names of three people to the union parishad (UP) chairman on 20 January.
Later on 9 February around 12:30am, the two accused police officers went to the Uzir’s house and took him to the police station tying him with rope. They also hit Uzir’s head with a torch light.
When the Uzir family contacted SI Alauddin, he said Uzir was taken to the police station for interrogation and asked them to take him back in the morning. They went to the police station in the morning but didn’t find him. They were told that he was taken to the hospital.
After reaching the hospital, they came to know that Uzir has been sent to the court showing him arrested in a theft case. Later on that day, Uzir was granted bail by the court.
In the case statement, the plaintiff Dalim Mia said Uzir was tortured inhumanly in the police station. As he fell sick critically, he was admitted to Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital.
Since his condition improved a bit, he was brought home after two days. Uzir Mia became ill again on 21 February. He was taken to the local Kaitak Hospital where on-duty physicians pronounced him dead.
After filing the case, Dalim Mia said, "My brother was completely innocent. He was tortured brutally in the police station, which led to his death."
Following the incident, SI Debashish was transferred to the Dirai police station while Alauddin is still discharging his duty at Santiganj police station.
On Sunday, Debashish was withdrawn from Dirai and attached to the Sunamganj police lines.