The family of Shamsuddin Milon, who was wrongfully beaten to death by an angry mob in police presence in the Charkakrha union in Noakhali’s Companiganj upazila eight years ago, is still waiting for justice, but police are yet to submit the charge sheet in the case.
Friday will mark the completion of year eight since the 16-year-old was brutally killed in broad daylight in that union’s Tekerbazar area.
Counting the days in his wait for justice, Milon’s father Gias Uddin died in March last year.
Milon’s other family members said after all these years they have no idea whether those responsible, including the policemen who had Milon in their custody, would be brought to book.
On July 27, 2011, Milon and five other men, branded robbers by locals and police, were lynched by the mob, angry over back-to-back robberies and murders in Charkakrha.
That morning, Milon was waiting for a cousin in front of the Char Fakira Academy High School when the locals beat him for the first time, suspecting him as a robber, and handed him over to police.
Video footages of the incident revealed that the teenage boy was later returned to the violent crowd by several police officials, an act that shocked the nation and the administration.
Later four policemen – then Companiganj police station OC Rafique Ullah, then sub-inspector Akram Uddin Sheikh and constables Abdur Rahim and Hema Ranjan Chakma – were temporarily suspended, and had faced departmental action later for neglecting their duty.
Milon’s mother Kohinoor Begum had filed the case at a Noakhali court six days after her son’s death.
She had accused some 30 people, including the four policemen, then Union Parishad member Jamal Uddin and Mizanur Rahman, husband of a female UP member, in the case.
However, Companiganj police had recorded it as a regular case, which was transferred to the Detective Branch (DB) of police three months later.
Case in limbo
In July 2015, local DB’s OC Ataur Rahman Bhuiyan, also the case investigation officer at the time, had submitted the charge sheet to a Noakhali court. The charge sheet excluded the names of 27 men and the four policemen.
But the court rejected it in January 2016 and ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police to investigate further.
The CID is yet to submit the final charge sheet even though three years have since passed.
Meanwhile, 27 men who were arrested for beating Milon to death after being identified from the video footages secured bail from court one after another and are currently free.
The four accused policemen are still in the force and currently serving at different parts of the country.
Milon’s mother alleged that some law enforcement officials had also tried to give her money or gifts to have the case withdrawn. But she did not resort to that path.
Saying police did not keep their promise of bringing those responsible for her son’s murder to book, Kohinoor Begum again demanded swift delivery of justice.
However, Jalal Ahmed, the additional superintendent (special) of Noakhali CID and the current case investigation officer, said they were waiting for Bangladesh Police’s legal wing to clarify whether the four accused policemen can or should be charge sheeted in the case.
“The final charge sheet will be submitted after we receive their opinion,” he said, adding that the other accused, who were involved in the lynching of Milon, had already been identified from the video footages.
Public Prosecutor ATM Mohib Ullah said the victim’s family has suffered for a long time. The process for them to get justice will only begin if the CID submits the final charge sheet in court, he added.