Rampura road blocked over Hatirjheel police custodial death

Scores of people blocked the Rampura road for nearly two hours on Sunday evening demanding justice for Sumon Sheikh, who died in police custody at Hatirjheel Police Station a day earlier.

Meanwhile, a human chain was also formed in West Rampura, which was eventually thwarted by a a group of people. 

Family members on Saturday claimed that they did not receive the body of Sumon as police gave them a condition to take it directly to their village home. 

However, police said the body of Sumon was not handed over as they did not get appropriate guardian to receive it.   

Postmortem of Sumon Sheikh alias Rumman, the accused in the case of theft of Hatirjheel police station, was completed in absence of his family members at the mortuary of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital on Saturday night.   

Family members said after the autopsy, the police asked to take the body to Bhola, but they denied to receive it as they want to take the body to Sumon's residence in Rampura Mohanagar project before taking it to Bhola. 

Contacted, Shahnaj, a sister-in-law of Sumon, said when they went to the Hospital morgue on Friday night, they came to know that the postmortem was completed without their presence. When they wanted to take the body home, police said they would only hand over the body if it is taken directly to the village. 

“We denied to receive the body as we want to take it to Sumon's residence in Rampura Mohanagar project area,” she said. 

The family will register a case before the Dhaka CMM against the  policemen responsible for the death of Sumon, she said. 

Meanwhile, briefing reporters at the office of Deputy Commissioner (Tejgaon division) in Shyamoli on Sunday evening,  Deputy Commissioner(DC- Tejgaon Division) HM Azimul Haque said since the post-mortem on Saturday (August 20) night, Suman's body has been kept at the mortuary to be handed over to the family. But it was not possible as there was no proper guardian in the family. 

Suman Sheikh's wife, brother and brother-in-law were called throughout the day but none of them came, he said. 

Referring to the delay in taking the body for unknown reasons, Azimul Haque said that the family members are trying to create a mystery about this. It is believed that someone is fueling from behind. 

The DC said that Sumon Sheikh's body will be kept in the mortuary of Suhrawardy Hospital until a suitable guardian is found to take it.  If this takes too long, then action will be taken later by talking to the authorities. A General Diary (GD) has been kept by the police in this incident. 

Earlier talking to reporters at Hatirjheel Police Station on Saturday evening, Azimul Haque said a case was filed with Hatirjheel police station in connection with stealing of Tk 53 lakh from the office of Unilever's Pureit Company on August 15. 

Police arrested three people identified as Al Amin, Sohel Rana and Anik Hossain in connection with the incident. They are now in jail. Sumon Sheikh was identified by analyzing the CCTV footage of the place of occurrence and also interrogating the three arrestees. Later, police arrested Sumon from his house in Rampura Mahanagar project area on Friday afternoon and recovered Tk 3,13,700 from his possession. Then he was kept in police custody around 11 pm, he said. 

Rumman Sheikh, aka Sumon, was supposed to be sent to the court on Saturday morning. But he hanged himself from an iron grill with the trousers he was wearing at around 3:32 am on early Saturday. 

"It was seen in the CCTV footage and this footage was also shown to the deceased's wife and relatives," he added. 

SI Hemayet Hossain, who was Duty Officer on Friday night, and constable Md. Zakaria have been suspended for negligence of duty. 

Besides, a three-member inquiry committee headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADC) Tejgaon Industrial Zone Hafiz Al Farooq has been constituted. 

Syful Islam, brother-in-law of the deceased Sumon Sheikh, said that they demanded punishment of the police members who tortured to death Sumon in police custody.