Youth dies in Hatirjheel police custody

A youth died while in the custody of Hatirjheel police station in the capital on Friday night.

Police claimed the deceased Sumon Sheikh, 25, committed suicide. But his family alleged that he was tortured after the arrest and beaten to death at the police station.

Azimul Haque, deputy commissioner (DC) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP, Tejgaon Division) said they arrested Sumon on Friday afternoon in a theft case and recovered Tk3.13 lakh from his rented house in Dhaka's Rampura on Friday night.

Sumon used to work as a labourer at distributor company Masud & Borthers. The private firm filed a case on 15 August, stating its Tk53 lakh had been stolen.

The DC said Sumon was arrested upon the information gleaned from three suspects and closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage of the office. 

"After the raid at his house, Sumon was kept in the lock-up of the police station as he was supposed to be produced in the court on Saturday morning," said the DC.

"But Sumon on Friday night committed suicide by hanging himself from the ventilator with his trouser," he said referring to the footage of the police station.

He said the footage was also shown to Sumon's wife and relatives.  

Azimul Haque said duty-officer Hemayet Hossain and Md Zakaria – who were in-charge of the police station and the lock-up on that night – have been suspended for negligence in duty. 

On Saturday afternoon, Sumon's family members and relatives took to the street in front of the police station demanding "justice". Vehicular movement was hampered for a few hours due the protest.  

"My husband was beaten to death. I want justice. We want punishment for the policemen involved in this incident," said Sumon's wife Jannat. 

Police said Sumon's body was sent to Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital for autopsy. A probe committee has also been formed to look into the matter.

Sumon's ancestral home is at Dakshinkandi of Nawabganj. The couple has a six-year-old child.