Family cries foul as man dies hours after being taken in RAB custody

A man died hours after being taken into the custody of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) following a reported mob beating on the Akhtaruzzaman Flyover in Muradpur area, in Chittagong.

The deceased is Md Akram, 33, son of Saleh Ahmed, who hailed from Banshkhali upazila of Chittagong.

The elite force claimed that Akram was a mugger and he was beaten up by a mob after he had been caught red-handed on August 15.

Later, the RAB personnel took him to different areas of the port city to nab his associates.

At one stage of the drive, Akram complained of chest pain and he was taken to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) where he died while undergoing treatment at 1pm on August 16.

Refuting RAB’s claim, Akram’s family said that he was never involved with any criminal activities and he was tortured to death.   

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Akram’s elder brother Md Sikander said that they cannot accept the unnatural death.

“My brother used to work at an apparel factory. Recently, he has taken the job of a construction worker. His wife and 14-month-old baby live in the village home while he used to live in the port city. He was never involved with any criminal activities,” he said.

“When we were washing his body for the last rites, we discovered multiple injury marks on the body. This is not a natural death. It seems that he was tortured to death,” Sikander claimed.

Demanding a fair investigation into the death, Md Kashem, a member of the Puinchhari Union Parishad under Banshkhali upazila told the Dhaka Tribune that Akram was a good fellow and there was no criminal record against him in the locality.

Executive Magistrate Ali Hasan of Chittagong district administration prepared an inquest report on the body at the morgue.

The Executive Magistrate told the Dhaka Tribune that he found black marks in several parts of the body including legs, buttock and the back.

Denying the allegations, RAB-7 Commanding Officer Lt Col Moshiour Rahman said that the allegation of custodial torture is baseless.

“Akram was a mugger. He was beaten up by the mob after he had been caught in the act. The death certificate cited septic shock as the cause of death. An unnatural death case was lodged with Panchlaish police station in this connection. We are now awaiting the post-mortem which will prove our claim,” said the RAB-7 chief.

Lt Col Moshiour, however, admitted that there was no previous criminal record against Akram.  

Septic shock is when a person experiences a significant drop in blood pressure that can lead to respiratory or heart failure, stroke, failure of other organs, and death.

Meanwhile, Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) expressed grave concern over the death of a man while in the custody of Rapid Action Battalion in Chittagong on August 16.

After issuing a statement on Wednesday, the organization also demanded fair probe and justice in connection with the incident of death.