Locals at the city’s Mahiganj staged protests yesterday demanding arrest of the policemen, who they say “tortured Nurunnabi to death.”
Relatives of the victim allege that a police team led by sub-inspectors Tarek and Tofazzal went to Nurunnabi’s house at Balatari early yesterday and handcuffed his younger brother Golzar Hossain.
They demanded Tk1.2 lakh from him as bribes claiming that he was involved in a motorcycle theft incident. Golzar refuted the allegation and said that he had been involved in electronics business and showed them his trade licence.
After he was then forced to give them Tk80,000, the police officers ordered him to pay the rest before noon.
“But then they handcuffed my brother Nurunnabi and demanded Tk1 lakh from him. He died after the police beat him mercilessly in front of me,” Golzar claimed.
Police left the scene in a hurry with Nurunnabi’s body, telling his relatives that they were taking him to Rangpur Medical College Hospital for treatment.
Fazlul Karim, in-charge of the RMCH outpost, said that a police team brought a body in the morning and “told me juts to keep it here.”
Kotwali police’s Officer-in-Charge ABM Jahidul Islam said that a motorcycle thief had named Nurunnabi as his accomplice. “A police team went to his house in that connection. Nurunnabi died of a heart attack when he tried to flee to evade arrest.”
Nurunnabi’s wife Arzina Begum claimed that he had been staying in Dhaka at the time of the theft. “He was completing formalities to go to Hong Kong,” she said.
Rangpur police chief Mizanur Rahman told reporters that they had formed a three-member committee and asked to file a report within three working days. We will take action based on the findings,” he added.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
