Bank official dies at Bogura rehab centre, family alleges murder
Police have detained an employee of the rehabilitation centre, Humayun Kabir, for questioning.
A senior official of Janata Bank died last night (24 February), 11 days after being admitted to a drug rehabilitation centre in Bogura.
While the facility, in the Shabgram area of Bogura Sadar upazila, claimed he had fallen ill, the deceased's family alleged he had been beaten to death, citing several injury marks on his body.
The deceased, Samiul Hasan Shuvo, was a resident of Kazipara village in Kahaloo upazila and was serving as a senior officer at the Dupchanchia branch of Janata Bank.
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According to police and hospital sources, staff from the Mayer Ashroy De-addiction Centre brought Shuvo to Bogura Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital at around 7:30pm yesterday. Doctors at the emergency department declared him dead on arrival.
The victim's family claimed they had found signs of physical assault on the body.
His brother-in-law, Shohag, said Shuvo had not been a drug addict but had been suffering from mental trauma following a robbery a month ago.
"On a doctor's advice, we admitted him to the centre on 13 February for observation and treatment. Last night, the centre called us saying he had died. When we reached the hospital, we saw multiple injury marks on his right hand and ribcage. We believe he was beaten to death under the guise of treatment," Shohag said.
Police have detained an employee of the rehabilitation centre, Humayun Kabir, for questioning. Kabir reportedly transported Shuvo to the hospital.
Mustafa Manju, additional superintendent of police (Sadar Circle), said, "Initially, we verified the CCTV footage at the centre and found nothing suspicious. No injury marks were visible on Samiul while he was inside the facility. However, injuries were found on his body once it reached the hospital."
He added that police were investigating whether anything had happened during the transit from the centre to the hospital.
A police team has also cordoned off the rehabilitation centre for further investigation.
Authorities confirmed that the exact cause of death would be determined once the autopsy report was released.
