Ex-top cop Babul Akter moves to sue police for custodial torture 

Former Chattogram Superintendent of Police (SP) Babul Akter has appealed to file a case claiming that he was tortured while in the custody of the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI).

Babul Akter's lawyer appealed to Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge Begum Zebunnesha's court to file the case on Thursday.  However, Babul Akter's lawyer Kofil Uddin told TBS that the court will decide about it later.

The accused in the case are - PBI chief Banaj Kumar Majumder, Chattogram district unit SP Nazmul Hasan, Chattogram metro unit SP Naima Sultana, PBI former inspector Santosh Kumar Chakma and AKM Mohiuddin Salim and inspector Kazi Enayet Kabir.

Kofil Uddin said that from 10-17 May last year, Babul was tortured at PBI Chattogram Metro and District Office.

"Babul Akter was subjected to inhuman torture for giving a false confession in the case of his wife's murder. In this case, a case has been filed under the Prevention of Torture in Custody Act," he said.

On 5 June, 2016, Babul Akter's wife Mahmuda was shot and hacked to death by miscreants in GEC intersection area of ​​Chattogram city. She had gone to GEC intersection to drop their elder son to the school bus.

Babul was in Dhaka at the time of the incident. Later, he went to Chattogram and filed a murder case against unknown persons. With the final report of Babul's case, he was made the main accused in the charge sheet of a case filed by his father-in-law.

The case was transferred to the Police Bureau Investigation (PBI) in 2019 after Mitu's father, himself a retired police officer, filed a complaint against the CMP's mishandling of the case.

On 12 May 2021, the PBI submitted its final report and arrested Babul Akter in another case filed by Mitu's father and since then he has been in prison.

Babul Akhter also filed a "no confidence petition" against the PBI report on 14 October 2021. On November 3 last year, a Chattogram Court rejected the final report of PBI in the murder case and ordered it to conduct further investigation. PBI in an investigation found Babul's involvement in his wife's murder.

PBI claims that Mahmuda Khanam Mitu was killed with the planning and financing of Babul Akter. He planned to kill his wife Mahmuda because of his relationship with another woman. For this, he hired killers for three lakhs through an informant. 

"Babul developed an extramarital relationship with a foreign woman and they had a child. That's why Babul took the decision to kill Mitu," said Abu Zafar Mohammad Omar Faruk, inspector of PBI and also the investigation officer of the case.

The PBI report also unveiled that Quamrul Islam Shikdar Musa and six others took part in the killing mission.

After the murder, Babul asked Musa to go into hiding, said the report.

PBI inspector Zafar also said that they are at the final stage of submitting the chargesheet and the mystery of the killing was unveiled with the help of technology.

According to the report, Babul, who filed the murder case, was made the main accused in the case.

The six other accused in the case are – Quamrul Islam Shikdar Musa, Ehtashamul Haque alias Haniful Haque alias Bholaia Md Motaleb Mia Wasim, Anwar Hossain, Khairul Islam Kalu and Shahjahan Mia.