The two incidents of ‘gunfight’ with the police that killed 13 people happened at Paikgachha and Koyra in Khulna last week. Police said the thirteen people were the members of Kashem Bahini prowling the Sundarbans area, while Paikgachha Upazila Chairman SM Babar Ali said the ‘gunfight’ was a concocted story and demanded a judicial inquiry into the incidents. Admittedly, police has the right to conduct manhunt for ensuring safety of the citizens but they have no right to kill anyone, even if he is a criminal. The culture of extra-judicial killing is not compatible with the concept of either civilization nor democracy.
Several national dailies reported that two of the victims were killed in a ‘gunfight’ at Hangarkhana canal of Paikgachha upazila and the rest 11, who were in custody following the ‘Hangarkhana gunfight’, were killed in the second ‘gunfight’ at Phultala village under Koyra upazila. Relatives of the slain people said that no gunfights took place in Hangarkhana and Phultala on that day. Rights activists said police and RAB cooked up the stories of gunfights whenever they committed ‘murder’ although they had miserably failed to contain crime and demanded an impartial judicial inquiry into the incidents.
Law enforcers resort to extra-judicial killings to hush up their failure in ensuring security of life and property of the people. Demanding punishment for those who had committed the extra-judicial killings, relatives of one of the slain said that the police branded his cousin as a robber and killed him setting up a story of gun battle. Paikgachha police said they would check the background of some of the victims to determine if they were involved in any crimes, though Dumuria Upazila Parishad Chairman said that he did never get any allegation against most of these 10 people.
Justifying the murders, the DIG of Khulna Range said operation against bandits was ‘inevitable’ to ensure security of life and property of the people of coastal belts, contain abductions for ransom, and protect resources of the Sundarbans. The very question arises, who gave the police the authority to kill the citizens without following the due process of law. If the people were proved guilty, it was not the duty of the law enforcers to award punishment. Surely, the government has not authorized the policemen to take part in such unlawful killings. In support of the victims, we advise the government to institute a court of judicial inquiry into the alleged extreme high-handedness of the law enforcers.
Several national dailies reported that two of the victims were killed in a ‘gunfight’ at Hangarkhana canal of Paikgachha upazila and the rest 11, who were in custody following the ‘Hangarkhana gunfight’, were killed in the second ‘gunfight’ at Phultala village under Koyra upazila. Relatives of the slain people said that no gunfights took place in Hangarkhana and Phultala on that day. Rights activists said police and RAB cooked up the stories of gunfights whenever they committed ‘murder’ although they had miserably failed to contain crime and demanded an impartial judicial inquiry into the incidents.
Law enforcers resort to extra-judicial killings to hush up their failure in ensuring security of life and property of the people. Demanding punishment for those who had committed the extra-judicial killings, relatives of one of the slain said that the police branded his cousin as a robber and killed him setting up a story of gun battle. Paikgachha police said they would check the background of some of the victims to determine if they were involved in any crimes, though Dumuria Upazila Parishad Chairman said that he did never get any allegation against most of these 10 people.
Justifying the murders, the DIG of Khulna Range said operation against bandits was ‘inevitable’ to ensure security of life and property of the people of coastal belts, contain abductions for ransom, and protect resources of the Sundarbans. The very question arises, who gave the police the authority to kill the citizens without following the due process of law. If the people were proved guilty, it was not the duty of the law enforcers to award punishment. Surely, the government has not authorized the policemen to take part in such unlawful killings. In support of the victims, we advise the government to institute a court of judicial inquiry into the alleged extreme high-handedness of the law enforcers.
