Family claims Bogra BNP leader tortured to death in police custody

A union parishad-level BNP leader was allegedly tortured to death by police in Bogra on Tuesday following a family feud over who had the right to fish in a local pond, the deceased’s family has claimed. Masudul Haque Pintu, 50, was the president of BNP’s Ashekpur UP unit in Shahjahanpur upazila of Bogra. Family members alleged that Kaigari police outpost in-charge, Inspector Anisur Rahman, and three other officers picked up Pintu from his home without any arrest warrant on Tuesday afternoon. “The police pulled out my father from the bathroom and hit him with their rifle butt on his head, chest, neck and other places before taking him away on a CNG-run auto rickshaw,” Pintu’s daughter, Meherunnesa, told the Dhaka Tribune. “We [family members] all rushed to the police station, but my father was not there. Police informed us that he had died at the hospital.” Pintu had been the prime accused in a case filed by his uncle, Ihsan Haji, and cousins over a brawl which started over who had the right to net fish in a local pond. “Our rivals - Ihsa, Razzak, Sagar, Tayeb Ali, Wahed, Jani and Shahidul [Pintu’s cousin] bribed police to beat my brother to death,” claimed Jhintu. According to the family, Pintu was severely tortured with rifle butts while in custody and later succumbed to his injuries at Shahid Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital. Abdul Hannan, a doctor at the hospital, said four policemen from Kaigari camp admitted Pintu at around 3:50pm on Tuesday. “There was no injury marks in Pintu’s body when he was brought to the hospital,” Dr Hannan said. “Later, he was transferred to the CCU of cardiology department.” CCU doctor Ashikur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that Pintu died of cardiac arrest around 5:30pm. “No police member was present at that time,” he said. Inspector Anisur Rahman maintained that Pintu had died of heart failure. “He had a cardiac arrest in Ranirhat area on our way to police station after the detention and he died in hospital,” he said. Bogra Circle’s Additional Police Superintendent Sonaton Chakraborty and Shahjahanpur police station officer-in-charge Zia Latiful Islam both supported Inspector Anisur’s description of events. In a press release issued on Thursday, Ain o Salish Kendra’s Executive Director Sheepa Hafiza expressed “grave concern” over Pintu’s death and demanded a full investigation into the incident.