4 'accused' cops dropped from Milon murder charge sheet

The policemen, who forced Milon off their van and let locals kill him eight years ago, were acquitted of the murder case, according to a charge sheet submitted in the court.

The 16-year-old Shamsuddin Milon was beaten to death after police had handed over him to the mob on 27 July 2011.

A video footage of the incident stunned people as well as the administration, then.

The investigation officer and also additional special superintendent of police in Cumilla and Noakhali zones, Jalal Uddin Ahmmad, submitted a five-page charge sheet to the chief judicial magistrate court in Noakhali on 9 March.

According to the charge sheet, a total of 28 people including the then Char Kakra union parishad member Jamal Uddin and his associate Mizanur Rahman alias Manik were indicted.

Of them, eight accused are now on bail and the rest 20 are on the run. Keeping plaintiff Milon’s mother Kohinoor Begum in the dark, the charge sheet was prepared and submitted, the victim’s mother alleged.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, plaintiff Kohinoor told Prothom Alo that she had no communication with the members of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) over one and a half years. She also said she could not go to the court to know the update of the case due to the monetary problem.

Kohinoor said she would take next steps after consulting with lawyers.

About the charge sheet, investigation officer Jalal Uddin Ahammed was not available over phone. His daughter received the call and said his father left the country on 8 July to perform Hajj.

CID’s special superintendent of police of Noakhali and Cumilla zones, Mostafa Kamal could not be reached over phone despite repeated calls on Thursday.

Haroon Ur Rashid Hazari was the then superintendent of police of Noakhali during the time of incident. He is now a deputy police commissioner of Chattogram.

About the matter, the police official on Friday said, “Members of police were suspended temporarily. Allegations against them were proved primarily. I don’t know what happened later. If policemen are dropped from the charge sheet, the justice will not be fair.”

Analysing the charge sheet, senior lawyer of the district judge court Molla Habibur Rosul said members of police have been suspended for their failure to discharge duties and responsibilities, which means, their guilty is proved.

Lawyer Rosul does not see any reason why they (police members) are not implicated in the case.

Following the publication of the video footage, four members of police including the then officer-in-charge of Companiganj police station Rafiq Ullah were suspended temporarily.

However, a few days after the incident, they returned to their respective posts.

The three policemen who were on the spot were punished in a departmental case. Sub-inspector Akram Uddin Sheikh was jailed for three years and constables Hemaranjan Chakma and Abdur Rahim’s salary increase was halted for two years.

Although this punishment was mentioned in the charge sheet of CID, why three members of police were not implicated in the case, there was no statement about it.

Milon is a resident of Char Fakira village of Companiganj upazila. His father Gias Uddin is an expatriate. Milon passed class X from local Kabi Nazrul High School in 2010, but he could not attend SSC examinations due to financial crisis.

On the day of the incident, he was waiting at Moshjit Ghat of Char Kakra Bepari School to meet his cousin on his way to upazila sadar to register land. He was carrying Tk 14,000 with him.

After some time, UP member Jamal Uddin and his associate Mizanur Rahman appeared and wanted to know his identity.

Though Milon mentioned his identity, they snatched away his phone and money and handed over him to police as a suspected robber. While taking Milon to the police station, members of police forced him off their van and let locals kill him as a ‘robber’.

First of all, an officer of the police station and later four officers of Detective Branch (DB) of police carried out the investigation when the petition of Milon’s mother reached Companiganj police station from the court on 3 August 2011.

DB investigation officer Ataur Rahman submitted the final investigation report to the court on 1 July 2015. In the report, he mentioned about the lack of adequate evidence and proof in connection with the incident.

After publication of a report titled ‘police buried justice’ in Prothom Alo on 27 July 2015, the matter came to discussion once again.

Kohinoor also filed a no-confidence petition with the court. On 5 November, senior judicial magistrate Farhana Bhuiyan did not accept the report and ordered CID to carry out further investigation into the case. After about three years into the investigation, CID submitted the report.

The plaintiff’s lawyer Kalpana Rani Das said police ensured Milon’s death instead of arranging treatment by handing him over to the mob. The allegation of plaintiff was avoided in the CID’s charge sheet, she added.

Kalpana Rani Das said 19 August has been fixed for considering the charge sheet. The decision would be taken on the day whether the charge sheet would be accepted or further investigation would be ordered.

District judge court public prosecutor ATM Mohib Ullah said he does not know about the submission of the charge sheet.
He said the case is with the magistrate court.

ATM Mohib Ullah said police sought his opinion after the order of reinvestigation. He advised them to identify those who were involved through the scrutiny of the video footage and make them accused.

*This report, originally published in Prothom Alo print edition, has been rewritten in English by Rabiul Islam.