The court comprising of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das on the other hand by asking the Govt and the Inspector General of Police to withdraw Sakhipur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Mohammad Rafiqul Islam and OC Md Maksudul Alam ending the hearing of the suo moto rule clearly showed they had misused their power and need to be punished through proper investigation. They are public servants to serve the people and must not forget that. But in this case they have victimized a minor boy only to make the local MP happy. The public servants must maintain the honour of their positions in the service of the people.
Earlier on September 20, the bench had granted permanent bail to the boy and summoned the UNO and OC to appear before the court to explain their conduct. In fact the court’s quick action has saved the boy from being pushed to be a criminal as a reaction for being sentenced as a criminal although he had done nothing as such.
The boy was clearly victim of ruthless and unjustified misuse of power by both the local official to appease the local lawmaker who had earlier lodged a GD for a threat on his life from a Facebook profile. Based on the lawmaker’s complaint police detained the nine grader schoolboy from his home at night on mere suspicion without any verification.
The OC tortured him at the police station, although the boy persistently denied of his involvement and even the skill to operate Facebook. The local UNO then took the matter into his hands, critically tortured the boy again and using the cover of a mobile court and power of an Executive Magistrate sentenced the boy to two years jail. The OC then quickly transferred the boy to Tangail prison treating him as a regular criminal.
The boy’s narrative of his arrest that he was beaten by the OC, kicked by the UNO and mishandled by the MP made headlines in national dailies and the High Court Bench issued the suo moto to give justice to the boy.
What made the court and the nation totally worried is about the brutality that the UNO and OC used on the boy just to prove their loyalty to the ruling party lawmaker without being sure of his involvement. We don’t know whether any local issue was involved but the way the two officials used their power without verifying the case appears to be a big threat to public safety of helpless villagers before powerful people. Police have their Code of Conduct. So also the UNO has the Administrative Guidelines how to punish criminals and save the innocent. Both of them are now accused of breaking the law and public misconduct.
Their Lordships of the High Court Division have let it be known that we have the judiciary to help the helpless ones to get justice. We are lucky to have such admirable instances set by our Supreme Court when no other body or authority intervened to stop gross violation of one’s rights. Our judiciary is still fully conscious of its responsibility to the people and their dignity as a nation.
The court’s order to transfer both officials outside Dhaka Division so that they can’t influence the probe also shows the concerns of the court to ensure proper investigation into the case to punish the lawbreakers.
