ASK fact-finding report reveals Netrokona man tortured during police remand

A fact-finding team from the Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) has found evidence of physical and mental torture of a man named Apel Mahmud, 36, while in police custody at Netrokona Sadar Police Station last month.

According to ASK's observation report, Mahmud, a former vice-president of the Netrokona District Chhatra League, was arrested from Borgara village in Rouha union on 14 October around 6pm.

The next day, he was produced before court, which granted police one day's remand out of a seven-day request.

During that remand period, ASK said, Mahmud was subjected to brutal torture by police officials, and his wife Afsana Mimi was also allegedly harassed.

The rights body's two-member team visited Netrokona on 5–6 November and said it found the allegations "primarily true."

Quoting Mahmud's wife, ASK said the investigating officer, Sub-Inspector Md Fazlul Karim, called her at around 8pm on 20 October using her husband's phone and asked her to come to the police station with food.

Afsana refused, saying she could not cross the river with her small child at night. Soon after, Mahmud himself called, saying police were insisting she come.

Afsana told ASK she then heard her husband scream and cry over the phone. Frightened, she went to the police station with her mother and child around 9pm.

There, she was directed to the police quarters, where she saw her husband hanging from a ceiling rod, hands, feet and eyes bound, while being beaten. "When I asked why he was being tortured, the officer replied, 'If we don't beat him in remand, should we let him sleep?'" Afsana said in the report.

She alleged the officer demanded money and threatened her, saying, "He has done politics and made money; now he will pay for it."

Mahmud later told ASK representatives in jail that three policemen, including SI Fazlul Karim and one Ashraf, tied him up and beat him for nearly two hours, leaving his legs swollen and causing difficulty walking.

ASK said the officer used Mahmud's personal phone during remand, although it was not listed in the case seizure report.

When ASK contacted the officer-in-charge of Netrokona Sadar Police Station, he reportedly behaved uncooperatively. The Additional Superintendent of Police (Administration), Rezwan Ahmed, told ASK that SI Fazlul Karim had been withdrawn to the police lines and a departmental inquiry was underway.

ASK termed the incident a serious human rights violation and a clear breach of the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013. It demanded that cases be filed against those responsible, proper medical care ensured for the victim, and full protection provided to his family.