Man dies under Hatirjheel police custody; two cops suspended

A 25-year-old young man named Suman Sheikh has died while in the custody of Hatirjheel Police Station in Dhaka, in what police primarily claimed was a case of suicide.   

However, the victim’s family alleged that Suman was tortured to death. 

In the wake of the incident, Sub-Inspector Hemayet Hossain and Constable Zakaria of the police station have been suspended for “negligence” in duty. 

A three-member probe body has also been formed over the death. 

Hailing from Nababganj of Dhaka and a deliveryman of  a private firm, Suman was the father of a six-year-old child.

Suman’s widow Jannat Begum on Saturday said a group of people picked up him from his Rampura home around 8pm on Friday.

They claimed that there was a complaint against him, but did not disclose what it was, said Jannat. 

As Suman’s relatives staged a demonstration in front of the police station, Jannat said, “My husband has been beaten to death. I want justice for him.”  

Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Tejgaon Division Deputy Commissioner (DC) HM Azimul Haq said Suman and three others were detained over the theft of Tk53 lakh belonging to a company.

“His home was raided and Tk3 lakh was seized from there on Friday,” the police official said.

Suman, he claimed, confessed to being linked to the theft during interrogation.

“He (Suman) was kept in a separate custody after being taken to the police station around 11:30pm on Friday. He committed suicide by hanging himself using his trousers around 3:30am (on Saturday) there,” the DC said. 

The CCTV footages recorded at the police station show how he did it all, he maintained while confirming the aforementioned two policemen’s suspension. 

“This is because Hemayet was tasked as the duty officer at that time  while Zakaria was told to take care of the custody where Suman was kept,” DC Azimul said. 

Their negligence of duty led them to be suspended, he added. 

The investigation committee headed by Tejgaon Division’s ADC Hafiz Al Faruq has been asked to submit its findings in seven working days. 

Suman’s body was sent to the morgue of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital for an autopsy.