Torturing BCL leaders: Probe lingers as committee gets 3 more days
The committee requires more time to gather statements from many witnesses and individuals involved in the incident, police say
The probe body formed to investigate the torture of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leaders at Shahbagh Police Station failed to submit its report even 15 days after the incident and sought seven more days for the report submission.
The three-member committee was supposed to submit its report on Sunday to Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Khandaker Golam Faruq.
Later, the DMP chief granted three more working days for the report submission, Syed Mamun Mostafa, special assistant of the DMP commissioner, said.
The DMP authorities formed the committee, headed by the deputy commissioner for operations, to investigate the torturing incident of two BCL leaders at Shahbagh police station on 9 September.
The committee was initially asked to submit its report within two working days. As they failed, they got five more days to submit the report. They again got a three-day extension on Sunday.
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When asked whether these delays might raise doubts about the investigation, DMP spokesperson and Deputy Commissioner Faruk Hossain reassured that there was no room for doubt. The committee requires more time as they need to gather statements from numerous witnesses and individuals involved in the incident.
DC Faruk emphasised that their investigation would be thorough, and those responsible for the torture would not be spared.
The incident occurred when Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Harun or Rashid and several other police officials took two BCL leaders to the police station that night and tortured them.
Following their allegations, ADC Harun was suspended and later attached to the Rangpur Police Range.
The incident ensued as President Mohammed Shahabuddin's assistant private secretary Azizul Haque Mamun attacked ADC Harun inside the BIRDEM general hospital at first on that night, Detective Branch of Police Chief Harun Or Rashid alleged.
Azizul's wife, Sanjida Afrin, also an ADC of the DMP, gave a similar account of the hospital incident. The incident ensued over ADC Harun being with Sanjida at the hospital, as injured BCL leaders have reported.
