Man dies in custody; police say suicide

A man --who was held with drugs on Sunday--died reportedly by hanging himself shortly after being taken to Chapainawabganj police station for one day remand on Monday night.

The deceased was identified as Afsar Ali, 35, son of Mohsin Ali, of Tikrampur, in Chapainawabganj Municipality.

Mahbub Alam Khan, additional superintendent of Chapainawabganj police, said: “Ali took the electric wire of a fan from Chapainawabganj police station and hanged himself on the fan at 7:20pm, shortly after he was brought to the police station for remand.”

After seeing him in that situation over Close Circuit Camera, police immediately took him to Sadar Hospital where the doctor pronounced him dead, ASP added.

 Sadar Hospital’s on-duty doctor Rohani Akhter said: “Afsar Ali was declared dead shortly after his arrival to the hospital and he might have suffered from severe chest pain and breathing difficulties before his demise.”

Meanwhile, the wife of the deceased has claimed that her husband died after suffering torture at the police custody.

According to police sources, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Ali with 1.195kg heroin from Bagdanga area in Sadar upazila on Sunday noon and handed him over to police.

The court remanded him for one day although police sought a five-day remand after placing him before the court on the day he was held with drugs.

Additional District Magistrate Jakiul Islam visited the spot on Monday night and told journalists that he will go to see the dead body on Tuesday.

 “A three-member probe committee has been formed to investigate the matter and the reason of the death will be informed later,” he said.