Staff Reporter :
Journalist Ariful Islam of Kurigram has said he was tortured, blindfolded and forced to sign papers in custody before he was freed on bail two days after he was picked up from his home and jailed by a mobile court on flimsy charges.
The district correspondent for the Dhaka Tribune newspaper and online news publisher Bangla Tribune was admitted to the Kurigram General Hospital after he was freed on Sunday noon.
Amid widespread criticism, the government has said after investigation that it is withdrawing Kurigram Deputy Commissioner Sultana Pervin, who allegedly orchestrated the mobile court drive on Ariful’s home and framing him on drugs charges following his reports that went against her decisions like naming a pond after herself.
“Having been blindfolded, I was forced to sign four times. I was whisked away to jail. I was forced to do whatever I did until I was admitted to the hospital,” he told the media there.
He alleged he was stripped of his clothes and beaten up severely after he was picked up from his home.
Pictures on social media showed marks of injury on his body.
His uncle ‘Nobidul’ said the family had not applied for Ariful’s bail. He said they learnt about his nephew’s bail when they went to the DC’s office for related papers.
“We don’t know who filed the application,” he said.
Shakhawat Hossain, the lawyer who stood for Ariful at the hearing on the bail petition, said Additional District Magistrate Sujauddowla granted Ariful the bail on a bond of Tk 25,000.
Lawyer Ahsan Habib Nilu, who is also President of the Kurigram Press Club, was given Ariful’s custody, Shakhawat said.
Speaking to the media at the hospital, Ariful said the people who took him away forcefully from his home in the wee hours of Saturday tied his hands and legs afterwards.
“They stripped me of my clothes and tortured me inhumanely. I still bear the marks,” he said.
Ariful’s wife Mostarima Nitu told reporters that a group of people began knocking on the door of their residence at Charuapara in the town around Friday midnight.
Later, about 14-15 men stormed the home and started assaulting Ariful before dragging him out of the house, said Nitu. The mobile court was set up in Pervin’s office, the Dhaka Tribune reported. Ariful received threats for his earlier reports which went against Pervin, the newspaper said, citing Nitu.
Quoting Ariful, the newspaper said: “My family and I went to bed after dinner at midnight on Friday. All on a sudden, we heard knocks on the door. When I asked who’s there I didn’t get any response. So, I tried to reach the Sadar police OC over the phone. Hearing me trying to call the police, men led by Kurigram Senior Assistant Commissioner (Tax) Nazim Uddin broke into my home and started assaulting me.
“They proceeded to take me to an isolated place and shoot me there. “Nazim kept on saying: ‘Say your prayers now, you’re about to be in an encounter.”
