The High Court has asked the inspector general of police to submit a report by June 14 regarding the actions taken against policemen who had beaten up demonstrators near the Dhaka Metropolitan Police headquarters on Sunday.
The bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman came up with another ruling yesterday, asking why the action by the police would not be declared illegal.
The court also asked why legal action would not be ordered against those policemen. The home secretary, DMP commissioner, deputy commissioner of police’s Ramna Division, officers-in-charge of Ramna and Shahbagh police stations were asked to respond to the ruling within four weeks.
The court came up with the directives after hearing a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Eunus Ali Akond on Monday, challenging the legality of police brutality on demonstrators who were protesting the Pohela Boishakh sexual assaults.
On Sunday, the police charged truncheons, rifle butts, water cannon and tear-gas canisters on student leaders who tried to lay siege to the DMP headquarters. Demonstrators including leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chhatra Union were injured by the police aggression, while women activists at the scene were assaulted with boots and truncheons. Videos of the brutal act drew widespread condemnation on social media.
