Torture of DU Student
2 policemen suspended
Mother visits Kadar at hospital
Two police officers were suspended yesterday over their involvement in torturing Dhaka University student Abdul Kadar in custody.
They are Sub-inspector Alam Badsha and Assistant Sub-inspector Shahidur Rahman of Khilgaon Police Station in the capital.
Masudur Rahman, additional deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told The Daily Star that they also wrote to the police headquarters for taking action against Helal Uddin, officer-in-charge of the station.
The moves came a day after the High Court ordered the law secretary and the inspector general of police to investigate the incident of detention and torture of Kadar.
The law ministry, however, is yet to get a copy of the directives, ministry sources said.
Appearing in the court on Thursday, Kadar said Helal Uddin chopped the calf muscle of his left leg with a cleaver while other policemen beat him severely.
Meanwhile, a Dhaka court yesterday fixed August 1 for hearing of a bail petition in a case filed by Mohammadpur police against Kadar on charges of carjacking. Kadar’s lawyer Abdul Matin Khasru submitted the bail petition with the Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.
Also on August 1, another Dhaka Court will hear a police petition seeking to take Kadar on a seven-day remand in the same case.
A master’s student of biochemistry and molecular biology at DU, he is now undergoing treatment at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) with injuries on different parts of his body.
Khilgaon police arrested him early on July 16. Following the arrest, they filed two cases against him on charges of attempted robbery and possessing firearms.
Bail petitions in the two cases were also submitted before the Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court yesterday. But the court did not hear them on grounds that hearing of those has already been fixed for August 3 in Metropolitan Session Judges’ Court.
Kadar’s family, and classmates and teachers at DU, including the chairman of his department, say he is a good-natured, brilliant student who was never involved in any criminal activities.
In another development, police tried to prevent his mother Monowara Begum from visiting him at BSMMU around 10:00am yesterday.
Police, however, let her enter his cabin after she referred to the HC order that said Kadar’s parents can visit him any time.
Doctors said there are six stitches in Kadar’s left leg and those will be removed in two to three days. The wounds were recovering, they added.
“Kadar has been prescribed for x-ray to determine whether his leg has also been internally damaged,” said Anwarul Islam Chowdhury, professor of orthopaedic department at BSMMU.
Note: The spelling of Kadar’s name was confirmed by his sister yesterday. Previously, we spelt it Quader.
-With The Daily Star input
