High Court orders judicial probe

The court said law enforcers had failed to identify those involved in the incident. Justices Md Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Ashish Ranjan Das also ordered a judicial investigation into the matter. The Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate will look into the incident and submit the findings by November 3. The court said it would hold a hearing on the report on November 6. The order came after lawyers informed the court that police did not contact with Shyamal while investigating a General Diary filed in this connection. Piar Sattar Latif High School teacher Shyamal was assaulted by a mob on the school premises on May 13 on allegation that he had committed blasphemy against Islam. Local Jatiya Party MP AKM Salim Osman apparently made Shyamal do squats holding his ears. A video footage of the incident went viral on the social media, triggering massive outcry across Bangladesh. Salim claimed what he did was to save Shyamal from the mob. However, in a report filed on Thursday, police gave a clean chit to Salim saying he was not involved in the incident. The High Court in its order said the police report is incomplete. The investigation officer has failed to do his job. Besides, the Narayanganj court that recorded the report before forwarding it to the High Court did not apply judicial mind. In the report police gave clean chit to Salim Osman despite the fact that there is a video available online where the MP is seen ordering the teacher to go through a humiliating physical punishment. The report says both Salim and Shyamal were victims of the incident that “happened suddenly.” Legal steps could not be taken in the absence of allegations or witness accounts, it said, adding that Shyamal gave a statement to police saying he would not file complaints. Shyamal said his coworkers spread lies against him while Salim defended his actions saying he was saving the teacher from the mob. On May 17, the school’s managing committee sacked Shyamal for allegedly physically assaulting students and making disparaging statements against Islam. The Education Ministry dissolved the committee and reinstated Shyamal based on findings from its probe. On May 18, a High Court bench issued a suo-moto ruling asking why legal proceedings should not be initiated against those involved in the incident. It also ordered Narayanganj district administration and police to submit reports on legal measures taken after the incident. The district administration submitted its report on June 9.