On Sunday the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court of Narayanganj ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate Shamim Reza’s death, after the Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s (DMCH) forensic department’s autopsy report found the trader was tortured to death.
On Thursday his widow Sabikunnahar Tuhin appeared before the court with a petition to withdraw two cases filed against four officers of Sonargaon police station because the case statements had erroneous information.
The petition was rejected by the court on Sunday because any case filed under section 302 would not be reconcilable, and neither the plaintiffs nor the accused may settle outside the court in relation to such a case.
Sabikunnahar however told the Dhaka Tribune that as the forensic report found proof of Shamim’s death by torture, now the police were pressuring her to withdraw the cases and consider negotiating a deal.
On April 19, after the wife of Pirojpur union parishad Chairman Rafiqul Islam, Shamima Begum, brother-in-law Rana Islam and two maids Rekha Akhter and Moni Akter were murdered, the police arrested Shamim for the crime.
Shamim was taken by Sonargaon police to Inspector Arup Tarafder’s quarters where he was held for three days and allegedly tortured.
Police, however, said Shamim confessed to the four murders in a statement, and was charged under section 164. They said he died at the DMCH on May 22, where he was being treated.
After Shamim’s death, Inspector Tarafder was suspended, while Sub-inspector Poltu Ghosh and Assistant Superintendent Uttam Prasad Pathak were withdrawn from duty.
Shamim’s father Alauddin Reza filed a writ petition with the High Court (HC) seeking the arrest of the three police officers and Atiqur Rahman the Officer-in-Charge of Sonargoan police station. He was directed by the court to file a case with the local police or a lower court.
When Shamim’s widow applied to the Narayanganj court to lodge cases against the four policemen, the court asked for an autopsy report to be submitted, so it could take necessary steps based on post mortem findings.
In her statement the plaintiff Sabikunnahar said Arup Tarafder and Poltu Ghosh picked up Shamim from their home on May 14 accusing him of dealing drugs and robberies.
The police demanded Tk1m to set Shamim free when he was in custody. His brother, Iqbal Hossain negotiated with the police to accept Tk500,000 instead.
