A jhut (garment waste) trader was allegedly tortured to death by police who had him in custody at Mirpur police station in the capital early yesterday, hours after he had been detained along with his wife and son.
Mahbubur Rahman Sujon’s family members said a team of police led by Sub-Inspector Zahidur Rahman subjected the trader to torture for his refusal to pay Tk1 lakh every month.
The torture led to Sujon’s death, they claimed.
Meanwhile, Zahidur was suspended to Rajarbagh Police Lines as part of the primary punitive measures against him for the death of the 36-year-old trader and a three-member committee was formed to probe the incident.
Sujon of Daida village of Munshiganj had been living in a house in Shankar at Dhanmondi with his wife Mamata Sultana Luchi, nine-year-old-daughter Lamiya, a fifth grader, and five-year-old son Mosharraf.
His mother and a younger brother live in Dhaka’s Shah Ali area where Sujon used to live earlier.
Luchi said SI Zahidur and his team members arrived at their house around 12am and began mercilessly beating the family members.
“At one stage, the policemen took us to Mirpur police station and tortured us further. They kept my husband and me in separate rooms,” she said.
Describing the torture, Luchi said she heard her husband screaming in pain but after 3:30am, the sounds were suddenly gone.
“I was beaten with shoes in my son's presence. Around 11am, they dropped me at my mother-in-law’s house in Mirpur by a police van,” she said.
Habibur Rahman Chaklader Opu, Sujon’s cousin, said a team of policemen went to the house of Sujon’s mother around 12 noon yesterday and asked her to receive the body at Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue.
He said Zahidur had been demanding Tk1 lakh as monthly extortion from Sujon and had threatened the trader for his refusal to pay the money.
“Police also filed several false cases against Sujon to harass him,” said Opu.
“When Sujon was threatened by Zahidur, he left his mother’s house in Mirpur and began living in a rented house in Shankar,” he added.
Salauddin Ahmed, officer-in-charge of Mirpur police station, denied the allegation of torturing Sujon to death, saying Sujon was a criminal and police had arrested him with two firearms and 10 rounds of bullets in his possession.
Salauddin said Sujon was arrested from his Dhanmondi residence after they received information from two other criminals Zakir and Mithun, who were arrested with 145 yaba pills.
“During the primary interrogation, Sujon gave us information on some illegal firearms kept in a different place. When police were on their way to recover the arms, Sujon fell sick,” he said.
Salauddin said Sujon was admitted to a private clinic when he fell ill.
“When doctors advised to move him to a government hospital, he was being taken to Suhrawardy Hospital but he died on the way around 3:30am. His body was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for an autopsy,” he added.
DMCH sources said Sub-inspector Afzal Hossain of Mirpur Police Station prepared an inquest report in the presence of Magistrate Priyanka Datta around 4:00pm yesterday.
In his report, Afzal mentioned the deceased had injury marks on his hands, legs, head and different parts of his body.
Imtiyaz Ahmed, deputy commissioner of Mirpur Division, said he received allegations from Sujon’s wife and closed Zahidur to Rajarbagh Police Lines as primary disciplinary action.
Imtiyaz said he also formed a three-member committee headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Mirpur Division Jasim Uddin to carry out a probe into the incident.
“The committee has been asked to submit a report within seven working days and the next measures will be taken after we get the report,” he added.
