MOGHBAZAR triple murder accused Shah Alam, alias Kailla Babu, was shot to death in Dhaka on Monday. While police claimed Babu was killed in a “gunfight between his cohorts and DB police”, his wife said, “A group of people identifying themselves as detectives picked him up around 10:00pm Sunday from his in-law’s house in Narayanganj “, as reported by a local daily.
Mariam Begum identified her husband’s body at Dhaka Medical College morgue. Monirul Islam, Joint Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, briefing reporters at the DMP Media Centre said a team from the Detective Branch reached Beparir Goli of Moghbazar around 3:45am yesterday on information about a group of criminals gathering to carry out criminal activities.
Sensing police presence, the gang started firing, prompting law enforcers to retaliate. One of the criminals was bullet-hit and taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead, said the officer. The DB team arrested Rajib Hassan, 27, and Al Amin, 31, while four to five others managed to run away. According to police, Al Amin along with Babu was accused in a murder case, and Rajib is a criminal of Old Dhaka. The arrestees had initially identified the dead as Kailla Babu, Monirul said, adding that police could not identify Babu as they didn’t have his recent photo. The DB team recovered a pistol, three bullets, seven shells of bullets, eight shells of shotgun ammunition and a machete from the spot, the Joint Commissioner told the media.
Babu’s wife Mariam said her husband had been living with her in her parents’ home at Bijoynagar of Sonargaon upazila in Narayanganj, and used to visit the capital frequently. “He used to buy and sell pigeons in Narayanganj. I did not know that he was involved in criminal activities,” she said.
Nobody is a criminal unless he is found so in a court of law. So the police has not killed a criminal but the police has killed an innocent person without due process of law. The police officials should take all the blame for behaving illegally and accept the punishment due.
No civilized society justifies even a convicted criminal to be killed by police in a “shoot out”. It is unfortunate that high police officials do not take such killing by police as serious breach of duty. Like any citizen police has no right to kill. In fact, when a police kills, he is meted out harsh punishment for the good image of the police.
