A man under trial died on the court premises here yesterday.
Family members of the prisoner accused the law enforcers of strangling him to death.
The deceased Mosharraf Hossain Babu, 35, was scheduled to appear before the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court-4 in the afternoon.
Police brought him to the court from jail in the morning.
Around 3:00pm, when Babu’s mother wanted to bring food for her son, in return for the favours police demanded Tk 400 from her, alleged some prisoners of the court custody on condition of anonymity.
As she refused to pay up, an altercation brewed between the prisoner and the police. At one stage the policemen beat Babu up and strangled him to death, alleged his family members.
The policemen then hung the body from the ceiling of the toilet to pass it as suicide, they claimed.
Denying the allegation of strangulation and torture, Taherul Islam, additional superintendent of Rangpur Police said Babu had hanged himself with his own lungi.
Altaf Hossain, officer-in-charge of the Kotwali Police Station said the body has been sent to Rangpur Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy.
An unnatural death case was filed in this connection.
Following the incident, agitating people demonstrated protests in the court area, demanding exemplary punishment of the policemen.
Son of Momtaz Ali of Purba Khasbagh area of the town, Babu was arrested on September 27, 2011 on charge of drug-peddling.
-With The Daily Star input
