Staff Reporter :
A team of Detective Branch (DB) of Police detained van driver Ashraf Ali, 42, from Gazipur on May 4 and after a one-day ‘interrogation’, he died at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital on May 6.
Ashraf was in a sound health prior to his interrogation at the Minto Road DB office in Dhaka, but fell seriously ill on May 6. He died after three hours of being taken to the hospital.
According to the DMCH authorities, the DB officers did not want to provide any information about his identity or where he had been arrested. He had been admitted there under a false name, Aslam.
The police asked the physicians to issue a death certificate indicating that he died of natural causes. But there were bruises all over the body so the certificate wasn’t issued, they said.
His relatives claimed that Ashraf died due to DB police torture. Ashraf had bruises all over his body, they added.
According to media, Ashraf was from the village Dahan in Charpak of Madarganj Upazila in Jamalpur district. He had six brothers and a sister. Ashraf had married thrice and lived with his third wife in Poshchim Dogri of Mirzapur in Gazipur. Ashraf drove the van that belonged to the company Decor Weight Processing Limited. The DB police picked him up along with his wife Ripa and their two children on May 4 midnight.
His relatives said Ashraf also served as a source in the Ashulia area for the DB police.
In a query about his sudden sickness in custody, Dhaka Metropolitan DB Joint Commissioner Abdul Baten said, Ashraf had demanded a ransom of Tk I lakh from the family of one Niamul, a Qatar migrant who was missing. He said the police were investigating Ashraf’s mobile phone records and called him with his wife for interrogation. But, Ashraf felt ill.
According to the DB official, Ashraf’s wife told them that he was a hernia patient. They took him to the hospital and he died there.
Dhaka Metropolitan Additional Deputy Commissioner Mahmud Naser has been investigating the missing case of Niamul. When contacted over phone, he declined to make any comment on the issue. The DB officials have handed over Ashraf’s body to his brother Abdur Rashid.
Ashraf moved to Poshchim Dogri in Gazipur on April 22. The owner of the house Abdul Halim said about 15 to 20 DB officials came in two vehicles around 1:00 am on May 4. They searched every tenant’s room. Then they went to Ashraf’s room and blindfolded him and Ripa. They beat up Ashraf and took him away. He had walked normally to the vehicle. Ashraf’s office was near his house. The company director Zahirul Islam said, Ashraf had been working for them since February. He hadn’t ever taken leave nor had he complained of being unwell.
A three-member medical board headed by Forensic Department Head Sohel Mahmud at the DMCH morgue had carried out the autopsy on May 7. Sohel Mahmud said, the dead body had bruises on both legs and his intestines were twisted. He added, the actual cause of death would be discerned once the viscera report was done.
Two of Ashraf’s wives and his elder brother Abdur Rashid came to DMCH from Ashulia on May 7 morning. The DB team took them by microbus to the Minto Road office of DB. Abdur Rashid said, senior officials of DB greeted them and offered them refreshments. Around 2:00pm Rashid and Ashraf’s father-in-law were taken to DMCH in a DB vehicle.
They stayed with the DB members in the vehicle till 8:00 pm. Rashid said, the law enforcers made him sign a written document and also a blank sheet of paper, and then handed over the dead body.
He said, the DB men then rented a microbus for Tk 6,000 and an ambulance for Tk 7500. Then they ordered them to get into the microbus and to take the dead body home by the ambulance.
A team of Detective Branch (DB) of Police detained van driver Ashraf Ali, 42, from Gazipur on May 4 and after a one-day ‘interrogation’, he died at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital on May 6.
Ashraf was in a sound health prior to his interrogation at the Minto Road DB office in Dhaka, but fell seriously ill on May 6. He died after three hours of being taken to the hospital.
According to the DMCH authorities, the DB officers did not want to provide any information about his identity or where he had been arrested. He had been admitted there under a false name, Aslam.
The police asked the physicians to issue a death certificate indicating that he died of natural causes. But there were bruises all over the body so the certificate wasn’t issued, they said.
His relatives claimed that Ashraf died due to DB police torture. Ashraf had bruises all over his body, they added.
According to media, Ashraf was from the village Dahan in Charpak of Madarganj Upazila in Jamalpur district. He had six brothers and a sister. Ashraf had married thrice and lived with his third wife in Poshchim Dogri of Mirzapur in Gazipur. Ashraf drove the van that belonged to the company Decor Weight Processing Limited. The DB police picked him up along with his wife Ripa and their two children on May 4 midnight.
His relatives said Ashraf also served as a source in the Ashulia area for the DB police.
In a query about his sudden sickness in custody, Dhaka Metropolitan DB Joint Commissioner Abdul Baten said, Ashraf had demanded a ransom of Tk I lakh from the family of one Niamul, a Qatar migrant who was missing. He said the police were investigating Ashraf’s mobile phone records and called him with his wife for interrogation. But, Ashraf felt ill.
According to the DB official, Ashraf’s wife told them that he was a hernia patient. They took him to the hospital and he died there.
Dhaka Metropolitan Additional Deputy Commissioner Mahmud Naser has been investigating the missing case of Niamul. When contacted over phone, he declined to make any comment on the issue. The DB officials have handed over Ashraf’s body to his brother Abdur Rashid.
Ashraf moved to Poshchim Dogri in Gazipur on April 22. The owner of the house Abdul Halim said about 15 to 20 DB officials came in two vehicles around 1:00 am on May 4. They searched every tenant’s room. Then they went to Ashraf’s room and blindfolded him and Ripa. They beat up Ashraf and took him away. He had walked normally to the vehicle. Ashraf’s office was near his house. The company director Zahirul Islam said, Ashraf had been working for them since February. He hadn’t ever taken leave nor had he complained of being unwell.
A three-member medical board headed by Forensic Department Head Sohel Mahmud at the DMCH morgue had carried out the autopsy on May 7. Sohel Mahmud said, the dead body had bruises on both legs and his intestines were twisted. He added, the actual cause of death would be discerned once the viscera report was done.
Two of Ashraf’s wives and his elder brother Abdur Rashid came to DMCH from Ashulia on May 7 morning. The DB team took them by microbus to the Minto Road office of DB. Abdur Rashid said, senior officials of DB greeted them and offered them refreshments. Around 2:00pm Rashid and Ashraf’s father-in-law were taken to DMCH in a DB vehicle.
They stayed with the DB members in the vehicle till 8:00 pm. Rashid said, the law enforcers made him sign a written document and also a blank sheet of paper, and then handed over the dead body.
He said, the DB men then rented a microbus for Tk 6,000 and an ambulance for Tk 7500. Then they ordered them to get into the microbus and to take the dead body home by the ambulance.
