Retired army officers demanded withdrawn Teknaf police OC Pradeep’s trial for allegedly killing 140 people extrajudicially.
“We know about Sinha’s murder. But those 140 people, whom he [OC Pradeep] murdered, are not able to open their mouths. Nobody is coming forward for them, they have no organization. We want trials, one by one, for all his extrajudicial killings,” said Retired Armed Forces Officers Welfare Association (Raowa) Chairman Maj [retd] Khandaker Nurul Afser.
He made the remark at a press conference meeting with Sinha’s mother at her residence in Dhaka’s Uttara on Monday morning.
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The retired military officers of Bangladesh also demanded the withdrawal of Cox’s Bazar Superintendent of Police (SP) ABM Masud Hossain.
“Police Super Masud should be withdrawn. And the arms of the police officers present during the incident should be seized, which is needed for the sake of probe. We believe the investigation team is highly skilled. Taking no sides, they would finish the probe with transparency,” said Maj Afser.
Moreover, he also urged reformation in the police force.
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“To prevent such kind of extrajudicial killing from taking place, police force should be reformed. They need to be brought under deputy commissioners [DC],” said Maj Afser.
“With the right supervision, police won’t be arrogant. A wrong form of confidence has grown among them as they are not brought under trial. He [the OC] has been awarded with a medal [for the extrajudicial killings]. The wrongs he has done, have not been brought to light.”
Sinha was murdered in ‘cold blood’
Maj [retd] Afser hopes that justice would be served soon as Sinha was murdered in “cold-blood.”
“Because it is already proven, circumstantial evidence asserts the proof that he was killed in cold-blood,” he said.
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“The prime minister, army headquarters or chief are looking into the matter, and investigating from their sides,” he said.
A judicial investigation monitoring cell has also been formed by Raowa led by Lt Gen [retd] Mainul Islam.
Retired Major Sinha Mohammad Rashed Khan was killed at Shamlapur checkpost of Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf marine drive in Baharchara union around 9pm on July 31.
On August 5, Sinha’s sister Sharmin Shahriar Ferdous filed a case with the Senior Judicial Magistrate Court of Teknaf against nine people including Pradeep Kumar Das and Liakat Ali.
