A virtual court in Dhaka has rejected a bail petition for Zahidur Rahman Zahid, former sub-inspector of Pallabi Police Station, in a case filed over the custodial death of Ishtiaque Ahmed Jony in 2014.
Judge KM Emrul Kayesh of Dhaka Metropolitan Session Judge's Court passed the order on Thursday, after Zahid’s counsel Faruk Ahamed filed a petition before the court seeking bail for his client.
After hearing the bail petition, the judge said that the case was now in the last stage of trial and there was therefore no opportunity of granting him bail in the case. His bail petition was rejected.
SI Zahid’s counsel Faruk Ahamed said: “Zahid has been in jail for seven years. His father is very ill. So, I filed for the bail petition on humanitarian grounds.”
The others accused in the case are Pallabi Police Station assistant sub-inspectors Kamruzzaman Mintu and Rashedul Islam, and their informants Sumon and Russell.
According to the case statement, an altercation took place between police informants Sumon and Jony over girls being harassed at a wedding at Irani Camp under Pallabi Police Station in the early hours of February 9, 2014.
When Jony slapped Sumon, the latter threatened the former with dire consequences. Half an hour later, a team of 25 to 26 policemen, including SI Zahid, swooped on the ceremony and vandalized the stage.
They also picked up Jony, Rocky and a few other people from the ceremony, and took them to the police station.
The detainees were tortured under police custody. SI Zahid jumped on Jony’s chest and spat in his mouth when he sought water.
Later, a seriously ill Jony was taken to the National Heart Foundation, where doctors declared him dead.
The complainant also alleged that police had cooked up a false story to hide the facts, claiming that Jony was killed in a clash between residents of Irani Camp and Rahmat Camp.
On August 7, 2014, the court ordered a judicial inquiry into the custodial death of Jony, a member of the local Bihari community, after his brother Imtiaz Hossain Rocky filed a murder case.
Following a judicial inquiry, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Maruf Hossain submitted a probe report before the court against the five accused in the case on February 17, 2015.
On April 17, 2016, the court framed charges against the five accused.
