Contradicting the findings, hospital officials, who saw the body in the last two days, said that the body of Ashraf Ali alias Aslam had numerous bruises. Blood clots in lower parts of his knees and on a wrist were spotted clearly, they said. Sohel Mahmud, Head of Forensic Medicine Department at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), who conducted the autopsy on Ashraf, told reporters that there were injuries on the legs. The magistrate must be accountable and explain how such a totally false report was prepared in his presence.
On Sunday, a DB official allegedly tried to register the death as a natural one, but failed as several DMCH officials insisted that the body had bruises. The victim’s elder brother Nazrul Sheikh alleged that detectives picked up his brother Ashraf, tortured him in custody and took him to the hospital just before he was about to die to avoid responsibility.
It is not a single incident of custodial death in our country. We still haven’t forgotten the brutal killing of the private varsity student Shamim Reza Rubel in DB custody in 1998. According to Ain O Shalish Kendra 150 persons were killed in custody only in nine months in 2016.
In March this year, acting president of Chhatra Dal Tejgaon unit Zakir Hossain Milon died after police allegedly tortured him in their custody. In another incident in May last year, a sexagenarian man arrested in a case in Bishwanath Upazila in Sylhet died in police custody. That means none is getting respite from torture in police custody -from youth to sexagenarian.
Detectives of Dhaka Metropolitan Police earlier claimed that Ashraf fell sick while in custody and was taken to DMCH around 12:30pm on Sunday. He died hours later while awaiting some medical tests. Detectives, however, denied torturing Ashraf. DB said they picked up Ashraf, along with his wife Ripa and father-in-law Alal, on Saturday to interrogate them in connection with a kidnapping incident.
Ashraf, son of late Samad Sheikh of Jamalpur, was a driver of Ashulia DB police and he quit his job around a year ago, the victim’s family said. Police on Sunday claimed that they had released Ashraf’s wife and her father.
But his death occurred in the custody of the DB, which prompts one to ask if police are free to kill people by torture after taking them into their custody? Are they not bound by the Constitution which prohibits torture and guarantees life?
It seems our police are not aware that they are our people’s police and not anybody’s private force for doing crimes. The police should feel accountable for any killing by anybody, but they are not taking their responsibility seriously. That is not good for the reputation of the police as protectors of life.
