Limon shooting
Police report biased: rights activists
Rights activists, lawyers and columnists condemned the final report the police submitted in the case filed against the Rapid Action Battalion for an attempt at murder of Limon Hossain, a college student who had to have his leg amputated after being shot by the force.
They said that the report was ‘completely biased’ towards some ‘criminal law enforcers’ and ‘both RAB and the police lost their credibility after such a report had been submitted.’
Limon’s mother Henoara Begum succeeded to file the case against the battalion with the Rajapur police after a Jhalakathi court directed the police to register the case
on 26 April, 2011. The court gave the directive after the Rajapur police had declined to record the complaint of Limon’s mother.
The police took more than a year to complete the investigation and submitted the final report on the case filed by Limon’s mother on Tuesday evening. The report said that the police had filed to establish that RAB was involved in the shooting of Limon on March 23, 2011.
Nur Khan, director of Ain o Salish Kendra, which is providing Limon with legal support, told New Age, ‘I do not think that the investigation was fair.’
The battalion also filed two cases against Limon under the Arms Act branding him as a criminal. The police also filed charge sheets in the two cases against Limon where the police said that he was a member of a local crime gang ‘led by Mizan and Morshed’ and he obstructed the law enforcers in their duties.
Referring to the charge sheets filed in the cases filed by the battalion, Nur said, ‘It was well known that the agencies would only submit reports that would go against Limon.’
‘And, our [rights activists’] suspicion came true.’ he added.
Nur also said that when each and every person knows that the battalion shot at Limon, such a final report would make the battalion more ‘arrogant’ and give them ‘impunity.’
Nur mentioned the battalion’s recent remarks that the home ministry’s investigation report did not matter to them. The home ministry report said that the battalion had been involved in abduction and extrajudicial killing.
‘RAB in under the home ministry but it has the arrogance to say aloud that it does not care about what the ministry says. Does not it mean that it [RAB] is more powerful than the ministry?’ Nur observed.
Adilur Rahman Khan, secretary of rights organisation Odhikar, told New Age that the investigation should have been done by an independent investigation committee rather than by a wing of the law enforcement agencies when the allegation was against that particular wing of the agencies.
‘The investigation team should have been set up in a manner that it should have less possibility to be biased, to be influenced or to be politically motivated,’ Adilur added.
But the final report against Limon is backing the offenders in the law enforcement agencies rather than helping the victim, Adilur told New Age.
Columnist Rahnuma Ahmed said such a biased final report of the police not only victimised Limon but also dishonoured citizens’ spontaneous protest against such impunity of law enforcers.
‘By submitting such a report, the law enforcement agencies lost the chance of winning people’s heart. They should have thought of the consequence of such a deed. Absolute impunity of the law enforcement agencies would bring no good,’ Rahnuma said.
A RAB personnel shot at Limon in Jhalakathi days before he was to take HSC exams in 2011. He was shot in the leg after being accused of being involved in crimes.
The critically injured Limon was taken to Dhaka on March 25 in police custody and admitted to the National Institute of Traumatology, Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation Centre where his left leg was amputated.
-With New Age input
