HC orders independent inquiries

3 custodial deaths
HC orders independent inquiries
The High Court on Monday ordered an independent inquiry into the three recent incidents of killing allegedly in police custody in the city.
The bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain asked the home secretary to form an inquiry committee comprising people other than police personnel in a week to investigate the three killings.
The body of transport worker Mujibur Rahman was retrieved from the River Turag at Mollartek in the morning of July 2, hours after he was picked up by plainclothesmen on the night of July 1.
Businessman Mizanur Rahman was killed in ‘gunfight’ early July 1 as claimed by the Gulshan police. But his wife Taslima Begum said the police had picked him up in the morning of June 29 and demanded money.
Auto-rickshaw driver Babul Gazi was beaten to death allegedly in the custody of Ramna police on June 28.
The High Court ruled that the inquiry committee would take statements from the families of the victims and their neighbours.
It asked the officers-in-charge of Gulshan and Darus Salam police stations, sub-inspectors of Darus Salam police Anisur Rahman, Mahfuzur Rahman and assistant sub-inspectors Sayeed, Hekmatullah and Moshiur to appear in the court on July 19 to explain how the three people had died in custody.
The court asked the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner to submit the postmortem reports of three persons as early as possible.
The Dhaka Medical College principal was asked to submit the postmortem reports to the court before the DMP commissioner submits the reports.
The DMP commissioner was also asked to report to the court in two weeks on steps taken regarding the three incidents in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure.
He will also have to report to the court on steps taken to stop deaths in police custody.
The court also issued a rule asking the government to explain in three weeks why it should not be directed to take punitive action against the persons involved in the killings.
The government will also need to explain why it should not be directed to take effective steps to stop custodial deaths.
The court also ordered appointment of 11 senior Supreme Court lawyers to assist the court as amici curiae (friends of the court) during the hearing in the case.
The amici curiae are Rafique-ul-Haque, Moudud Ahmed, M Amirul Islam, Mahmudul Islam, Rokan Uddin Mahmud, Fida M Kamal, M Zahir, Abdul Baset Majumder, Abdul Matin Khasru, Anisul Haq and Yousuf Hossain Humayun.
The court passed the orders after hearing a public interest litigation writ petition jointly filed by rights organisations Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh and Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation.
During the hearing, the court also cautioned the DMP commissioner for casting doubts on the reports carried by different dailies on the custodial deaths.
The court asked the DMP commissioner to refrain from making comments that could influence investigation in the cases.
Justice Shamsuddin Chowdhury said, ‘It is the duty of the newspapers to make public any injustice done to a person. They have not cooked up the stories. It is a fact that the three people have died and that they were reportedly picked up by the law enforcers.’
‘The police cannot kill even a person accused of murder,’ he said.
Earlier on June 1, the bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Justice Md Delwar Hossain warned the government that the court would show zero tolerance towards death in custody.
The court had asked former law minister Abdul Matin Khasru, also a ruling Awami League lawmaker, and additional attorney general Murad Reza to convey the warning to the government.
It is the duty of the government and the law enforcers to protect the lives of people in their custody, the court had said, and warned the government of dire consequences for recurrence of custodial deaths.
The court had issued the warning during the hearing in a contempt of court proceedings drawn against the Chittagong Metropolitan Police commissioner, M Muniruzzaman, for his failure to appear in the court along with a report on the custodial death of Mohammad Manik, a night guard of Anjuman Market at Reazuddin Bazar, who died on May 11 in the custody of the Chittagong Kotwali police allegedly from torture.

Courtesy of NewAge