Even though the former Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Sonagazi police station Moazzem Hossain and the former Superintendent of Police (SP) of Feni SM Jahangir Alam were both found guilty of neglecting duty and withdrawn, only the OC is facing legal action.
A Dhaka court issued an arrest warrant against the OC on Monday, after the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) submitted a probe report before the court.
According to the probe report, Moazzem was found guilty under sections 26, 29 and 31 of the Digital Security Act for spreading a video of Nusrat’s statement on Facebook.
The question is- if the OC is facing the fire for neglecting duty then why not the SP?
A report submitted by SP Jahangir Alam on April 11 to the Police Headquarters stated that Nusrat’s family was wasting time in lodging a case.
However, later, a probe committee by the Police Headquarters found evidence of negligence on the part of the OC and the SP and recommended punishment for both.
Later on May 12, Jahangir Alam was withdrawn as SP of Feni and attached to the police Headquarters in Dhaka.
Chief Executive of Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation (BHRF) Advocate Alena Khan told Dhaka Tribune: "Just withdrawal cannot be a punishment of a crime. A major discrepancy in law enforcement has become visible here. Since the SP was withdrawn that means evidence of unlawful activities had been found against him."
"After Nusrat was set on fire, OC Moazzem Hossain tried to divert the incident making it appear as a suicide case. The SP was the supervisor of the OC and thus cannot evade responsibility of that irresponsible act."
"There is no scope of exonerating those who were directly and indirectly involved with murder of Nusrat. If that happens then crimes like this will continue to happen," Alena added.
Head of Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Banaj Kumar Majumder, said: “We only investigated the case. Police Headquarters formed a separate committee and they can comment on the issue about the SP.
When asked whether any legal action would be taken against withdrawn Feni SP Jahangir, Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police Sohel Rana (public relations department, Police Headquarters) said: “As per the recommendation of the report, the issue of the SP has been sent to the home ministry and, currently, it’s under process.”
Meanwhile, additional secretary of the Home Ministry, Sahed Ali said the Ministry has not yet received any such file.
When contacted, the former SP of Feni, Jahangir Alam, said: “Please contact the Police Headquarters for further information on the matter.”
On Mar 27, police arrested Principal of the Sonagazi Islamia Fazil Madrasa Siraj ud Doula for sexually harassing a student called Nusrat Jahan Rafi.
Nusrat, who was an Alim examinee, suffered 80% burns to her body when she was set on fire on April 6 by four burqa-clad assailants—who were allegedly followers of Sirajuddaula— on the roof of the madrasa at Sonagazi. They killed her because she refused to withdraw an attempted rape case her family had filed against Sirajuddaula.
After she was set on fire, her family filed another case against eight people, including Sirajuddaula, on April 8.
The 18-year-old girl died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on April 10, after five days in treatment.
Finding police guilty in this murder, the case was later handed over to PBI.
Upon completing investigation, PBI said they will file a charge sheet in court, seeking the death penalty for 16 accused, including the Principle Sirajuddaula.
Of them, 12 accused made confessional statement before the court.