Death in DB custody: Injury marks found on deceased

The autopsy on Ashraf Ali alias Aslam, who died in the custody of the Detective Branch of Police (DB) on Sunday, was completed at the Forensics Department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital at 7pm on Monday. Dr Sohel Mahmud, head of the three member board which conducted the autopsy, said: “We found injury marks on the legs of the deceased. We have collected blood and viscera samples and sent them to the examination centre. We can confirm the cause of death when we get the report.” Ashraf’s brother Abdur Rashid received his body in the presence of DB officials upon completion of the autopsy. He said Ashraf would be buried at Madarganj Upazila of Jamalpur district, but did not disclose any more information to the media. In addition, two women called Shanaj and Nasima came to the DMCH morgue after hearing news of Ashraf’s death. They claimed to be Ashraf’s previous wives and were picked up by police, though they could not disclose any information on the deceased to journalists. According to the inquest report prepared by Shahbagh police station Sub-Inspector Hari Chand Hajra, Ashraf was wanted in connection with the kidnapping of one Niyamul Hossain, 22. Niyamul’s location is yet to be traced. Niyamul has been missing for several days, and his family filed a general diary with Shah Ali police station on April 26, after an unknown person demanded ransom. Once informed of the matter, the DB police launched a shadow investigation and, with the help of Niyamul’s brother, determined that Ashraf was the one who had demanded the ransom and detained him. Subsequently, Ashraf was questioned in the presence of the plaintiffs at 7:45am on Sunday. According to the police, the interrogation was stopped when Ashraf felt stomach pains due to a hernia problem. He was first rushed to Rajarbagh Police Line Hospital before being transferred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he died while undergoing treatment. Devdas Bhattacharya, additional commissioner of DMP DB, confirmed that Ashraf was detained and questioned over allegations of kidnapping and demanding a ransom for Niyamul. “Ashraf’s wife has admitted that they demanded ransom and also that Ashraf had a hernia problem,” he said.