Police in Kotalipara upazila have been accused of torturing a man to death.
A three-member committee headed by the additional police super has been formed to investigate Saturday’s death of 32-year-old Juel Fakir.
On Saturday noon, Juel, son of Taiyab Fakir, fell into a pond and drowned after police had allegedly chased him in Barshapara village.
Juel’s brother Sohel Fakir claimed that police had severely beaten Juel for gambling and also stamped on him, which led to his death.
But Kotalipara police station Sub-Inspector, Md Sayem Sujan, said Juel and several men were gambling by the pond and they all ran to flee when police arrived there.
“While running, Juel slipped and hit a tree, thus falling in the pond. He was taken to the upazila health complex where doctors declared him dead,” he said.
Resident Medical Officer of the health complex, Dr Premananda Mondol, said police and several others brought Juel there but he could not be treated as he had died earlier.
“He had injuries in the forehead and legs but how he actually died can be learned after the post-mortem,” he said.
Officer-in-Charge of Kotalipara police station, Md Abdul Latif, strenuously denied the allegation of the involvement of police in Juel’s death. He said police do not use batons to beat up anyone for gambling, as there are specific laws to deal with such cases.
“Police always follow those laws. We have detained many gamblers in the past and they all were sentenced as well as fined by mobile courts.”
Juel’s body was sent to Gopalganj General Hospital for autopsy and OC Latif said no one had lodged any formal complaint over the trader’s death.
Md Mizanur Rahman, superintendent of police in Gopalganj, termed gambling a social crime, and said Juel had died while running away from a gambling session to avoid being caught.
“We have formed a probe committee to look into the claim of Juel’s family that police were responsible for his death. Action will be taken against any policeman if he is found guilty of the death.”