The death of Ejarul Islam, 45-- a 2003 murder case accused-- has caused confusion and mistrust against police as he died three hours after his arrest in Rangpur’s Gangachara police station.
However, police claimed Ejaraul had died on the way to a hospital right after his arrest in the early hours of Wednesday around 12am.
Yet, his family sources pointed out that he was taken into the Rangpur Medical College Hospital around 4:50am and Upazila Health Complex around 3am.
Therefore, pointing out the discrepancies of the timeline, brother of the deceased, Janarul Islam said: “My brother was in sound health when he was being arrested that night. How can he die in the next three hours unless he suffered torture in custody?”
Deny the allegations, Biplob Kumar, superintendent of police, Rangpur, said: “Ejarul was feeling unwell right after he was taken into custody and we took him to the emergency room of Upazila Health Complex immediately.
“As he died under police supervision, he will be inspected by a magistrate of the district and later will undergo an autopsy to confirm the reason behind his death.”
Meanwhile, confirming his relatives’ claim, the on-duty doctor of RMCH Dr Jahurul Islam said Ejaul had died before he was taken into the hospital.
When contacted about the incident Sushanta Kumar Sarker, officer-in-charge of Gangachara police station, remained unresponsive and did not receive any call until the filing of this report on Wednesday afternoon.
Ejarul Islam, 45, was a wanted accused in a 2003 murder case. The District Session and Judge Court had issued an arrest warrant according to which he was taken into custody on Wednesday.