Editorial Desk :
The death of a Chatra Dal leader in jail custody has raised question whether he died from police torture. Vice president of BNP’s student wing JCD’s Dhaka city (north) unit Zakir Hossain Milon died in jail custody on Monday morning. Milon was in the custody of detective police for three days after he was arrested from a programme at Jatiya Press Club on March 6 where he went to attend a protest rally.
BNP leaders and family sources said Detective police sent him to jail on Sunday afternoon. Police also arrested three JCD leaders from a BNP programme on March 8 from Jatiya Press Club. They are also in police custody now and their families are passing time in agonies how they are being treated in police custody; as Zakir’s death adds one more death in police custody.
The fact is that police don’t treat political prisoners as per police code with legal protection eligible to political prisoners. The politicization of police has left political prisoners highly vulnerable to police beating and torture.
Family sources said hours before his death in jail custody on Monday morning,
Zakir told his uncle that he might not survive, because he was not feeling well. He remained silent whether he was tortured. He died on the way when he was shifted from Keranigonj Central Jail to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Detective Branch (South) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said, “he expired in jail not in police custody’ to suggest he did not die from torture in their custody.
The core issue is how our police can fatally torture prisoners in custody to cause death on many occasions. How one can explain Zakir’s death. They had just killed him.
Even if he suffered heart attack as jail police claimed, how could it happen to a person who was young and healthy all along. Naturally one may suspect he was critically beaten to suffer a break.
We can’t believe our police can do that and yet the young people are dying in police custody. Police can’t rule out the responsibility.
During Pakistani days police were blamed for brutality and torture on Bangalee prisoners but it is not Pakistan now. We are living in independent Bangladesh where everybody has basic right to life and property. They have the right to take part in politics and campaign for the cause they believe in.
For being a political worker police can’t arrest a person, put on remand and torture in many cases till to death. Such action by police is not acceptable in independent Bangladesh. People gave blood and lost their life to liberate the country not to see Pakistani type torture and police state is back again.
We must say we can’t believe our police can be so brutal to their own people. It is not only sad but a national shame that our police cannot be civil in dealing with crimes. They must know brutal and arrogant tactics are no help in fighting crimes. Now we have police also engaged in crimes. We all must think of the image we are projecting.
The death of a Chatra Dal leader in jail custody has raised question whether he died from police torture. Vice president of BNP’s student wing JCD’s Dhaka city (north) unit Zakir Hossain Milon died in jail custody on Monday morning. Milon was in the custody of detective police for three days after he was arrested from a programme at Jatiya Press Club on March 6 where he went to attend a protest rally.
BNP leaders and family sources said Detective police sent him to jail on Sunday afternoon. Police also arrested three JCD leaders from a BNP programme on March 8 from Jatiya Press Club. They are also in police custody now and their families are passing time in agonies how they are being treated in police custody; as Zakir’s death adds one more death in police custody.
The fact is that police don’t treat political prisoners as per police code with legal protection eligible to political prisoners. The politicization of police has left political prisoners highly vulnerable to police beating and torture.
Family sources said hours before his death in jail custody on Monday morning,
Zakir told his uncle that he might not survive, because he was not feeling well. He remained silent whether he was tortured. He died on the way when he was shifted from Keranigonj Central Jail to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
Detective Branch (South) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said, “he expired in jail not in police custody’ to suggest he did not die from torture in their custody.
The core issue is how our police can fatally torture prisoners in custody to cause death on many occasions. How one can explain Zakir’s death. They had just killed him.
Even if he suffered heart attack as jail police claimed, how could it happen to a person who was young and healthy all along. Naturally one may suspect he was critically beaten to suffer a break.
We can’t believe our police can do that and yet the young people are dying in police custody. Police can’t rule out the responsibility.
During Pakistani days police were blamed for brutality and torture on Bangalee prisoners but it is not Pakistan now. We are living in independent Bangladesh where everybody has basic right to life and property. They have the right to take part in politics and campaign for the cause they believe in.
For being a political worker police can’t arrest a person, put on remand and torture in many cases till to death. Such action by police is not acceptable in independent Bangladesh. People gave blood and lost their life to liberate the country not to see Pakistani type torture and police state is back again.
We must say we can’t believe our police can be so brutal to their own people. It is not only sad but a national shame that our police cannot be civil in dealing with crimes. They must know brutal and arrogant tactics are no help in fighting crimes. Now we have police also engaged in crimes. We all must think of the image we are projecting.
