Staff Correspondent
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| Attendants lead New Age staff correspondent FM Masum into Dhaka Medical College Hospital late into Thursday night after he was picked and beaten up by the Rapid Action Battalion in detention for more than 10 hours and a half. — New Age photo |
The Rapid Action Battalion on Thursday had tortured severely New Age staff correspondent FM Masum keeping him in detention at the RAB 10 headquarters at Dhalpur in Dhaka for about 10 hours and a half.
The battalion men picked Masum up from his rented house at Jatrabari in Dhaka at noon and severely tortured him in public.
Masum was, however, released about 10:30pm reportedly after repeated interventions of the home minister and the home secretary, and he needed to be rushed in to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment.
According to Masum and spot accounts, a battalion team raided the house at 67, Dakshin Jatrabai, where Masum lives as a tenant, at noon for alleged involvement of the landlord in drug peddling. The battalion personnel also knocked on the door of Masum's flat.
As soon as Masum opened the door, the battalion personnel slapped him, accusing him of being late in opening the door.
They started torturing Masum severely as he told them of his identity, according to spot accounts.
Torturing him in public on the spot, the battalion men rubbed salt in the wounds and took him to the RAB 10 headquarters at Dhalpur.
'At the RAB office, they tortured me inhumanly saying, "We are taking our anger at Nurul Kabir [New Age editor] out on you",' Masum said in the hospital.
Soon after Masum's detention, different battalion officers came up with different stories as reason for the detention. Some of them claimed Masum was found in possession of Pethedine, some said with Phensidyl (codeine) syrup while some others said they found him with prostitutes.
The battalion, when Masum was released, finally said they had picked him up for not cooperating with the law enforcement agency. The battalion reportedly requested several media houses not to run or print any report on the incident.
The battalion released Masum after the New Age people had to sign an undertaking in which it was written that he had been picked up and was being handed over to his colleagues 'in good health.'
He had marks of injury all over the body and his feet were swollen when he was released. Physicians in Dhaka Medical College Hospital advised a CT scan, which was later done.
The New Age people were earlier asked to sign an undertaking in which it was said that Masum had been involved in trading in drugs for long, but his colleagues refused to sign it.
Masum also said the battalion personnel had videoed arranged sequences of seizure of drug substances from his room. He was also videoed along with the wife of the owner of the house, he said.
The home minister, Sahara Khatun, the home secretary, Abdus Sobhan Sikder, and the battalion's director general Hasan Mahmud Khandakar about 6:00pm told New Age that Masum would be released.
Masum, who received his master's degree in mass communication and journalism department in Dhaka University, earlier worked with the Bangladesh Today before joining New Age. He is an alumnus of the Barisal Cadet College.
Masum has written reports on extrajudicial killing such as the death in 'crossfire' or 'encounter' committed by the battalion and on illicit trading in drug substances. He has also written several reports on torture on newsmen across the country.
Various national and international organisations on Friday strongly decried inhuman torture by the Rapid Action Battalion on New Age staff correspondent FM Masum.
The RAB 10 team on Thursday had tortured severely Masum in his rented house and in detention in the unit's headquarters for about 10 hours and a half.
All the journalists, employees and officials of New Age and members of the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists, Dhaka Reporters' Unity, Bangladesh Nationalist Party, rights organisation Odhikar and Asian Human Rights Commission separately also demanded a judicial inquiry of the incident to bring to justice the perpetrators.
New Age journalists, staff and officials at a joint meeting demanded a judicial inquiry of the torture and exemplary punishment of the battalion personnel involved in the torture.
The meeting, chaired by the newspaper's deputy editor Mir Ashfaquzzaman, resolved that the dastardly torture on Masum, even after coming to know of his identity, was virtually an attack on the media and New Age in particular.
Such a contention gets ground as a battalion official during the torture said, 'We are taking our anger at Nurul Kabir [New Age editor] out on you.'
If the government fails to initiate a judicial inquiry, the people would think the government had a tacit support for the torture on Masum and illegal activities, including extrajudicial killing and torture by the battalion, highly criticised at home and abroad, the meeting resolved.
The meeting also said Masum about 10:30 on Thursday was getting out of his flat on the second floor of the six-storey building at 167, Dakkhin Jatrabari in Dhaka.
When he walked out, he saw some people were torturing the wife of the owner of the house, where he lives as a tenant, in front of the gate.
The people in plain clothes asked him to open the collapsible gate and he refused to do so.
The plainclothes men then said they were RAB personnel and Masum immediately opened the gate. The RAB personnel instantly started beating him for being late in opening the gate.
The battalion personnel, led by Fight Lieutenant Anis, took him on the floor where the house owner lives and started beating him with iron rods and with the back of machetes.
They also snatched away the keys to his flat and took him inside his flat after torturing him for an hour.
They kept six bottles of Phensidyl (codeine) syrup in his bed and videoed the arranged sequences.
The meeting also said after torturing him for half an hour more in his flat, the battalion took him to the RAB 10 headquarters at Dhalpur handcuffed.
The RAB personnel tortured him in the unit headquarters and threatened to have him killed in 'crossfire.'
He was videoed in the unit headquarters with a piece of paper reading 'Drug peddler' pinned on his T-shirt, he said after his release late into Thursday night.
The meeting also said being informed of the matter, New Age contacted the battalion's director general, home secretary and the home minister.
They all told New Age in the afternoon that Masum had been arrested because of misunderstanding. They also told New Age Masum would be released immediately.
Different battalion officers were coming up with different stories as reason for his detention. Some claimed Masum had been found in possession of Pethedine, some said with Phensidyl syrup while some others said they found him with prostitutes.
Despite assurance of his release by high officials, including the battalion's director general, home secretary and home minister by the evening, Masum was handed over to senior New Age journalists about 10:30pm.
New Age journalists had to sign an undertaking in which it was written that he had been picked up and was being handed over to his colleagues 'in good health.'
After being admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, physicians advised CT scan and X-ray for him. The tests were run on him early Friday.
Masum was discharged from the hospital about 2:30pm and he had to get admitted to a private hospital, where he is being treated. He complained of not hearing in the left ear.
The Dhaka Reporters' Unity decried the inhuman torture on Masum. In a statement on Friday, the organisation's president Shamim Ahmad and general secretary Pathik Saha said the audacious behaviour of the battalion personnel with Masum even after he had disclosed his identity, was unwarranted.
Terming the repression human rights violation, they said the battalion had not only tortured him physically, but also tried to assassinate his character.
The organisation leaders urged the government to take punitive action against the people involved in the torture within 24 hours and to investigate it properly.
The BNP's secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain also condemned the torture on Masum and demanded legal action against the personnel involved in the incident.
The Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists secretary general, Altaf Mahmud, condemned the torture.
Odhikar in a statement demanded judicial inquiry of the inhuman torture on Masum. It said the incident was an instance of attack by the state machinery on the media.
The Asian Human Rights Commission in a statement condemned the lawless brutal action of the members of the battalion.
Competent authorities should immediately investigate the allegations of torture, detention and the making of a fabricated video. Such an investigation should be
undertaken without involving the battalion or police officers as they lack
credibility in Bangladesh.
The commission urged the Bangladesh government and its parliamentarians to criminalise torture.
RAB expresses regret, starts inquiry
Staff Correspondent
The Rapid Action Battalion in a statement on Friday regretted the 'unwarranted incident' that had taken place with New Age staff correspondent FM Masum on Thursday when the battalion was conducting a raid to arrest some drug peddling suspect.
The RAB 10 team on Thursday had tortured severely Masum keeping him in detention in the RAB 10 headquarters at Dhalpur for about 10 hours and a half. The battalion men picked him up from the house, tortured him severely and rubbed salt in the wounds in public. He had to be rushed in to Dhaka Medical College Hospital when he was released about 10:30pm Thursday.
The battalion statement, signed by the battalion's legal and media wing director, said, 'We sincerely express our regret for the unwarranted incident that has taken place between RAB personnel and journalist FM Masum of the largely-circulated daily New Age.
'RAB is looking into the matter with importance. The RAB headquarters has formed an inquiry team and the matter is being investigated. Punitive action will be taken against anyone of RAB found guilty.'
The 'unwarranted incident' took place between Masum and a RAB 10 team when it was carrying out a raid on a house at 167, Dakkhin Jatrabari about 12:30pm to arrest a female drug peddling suspect, according to the statement,.
Masum lives on the second floor of the house as a tenant.
According to spot account, the battalion personnel started beating him as soon as he opened the door for being late in opening the door. He was also tortured inside his flat and then in the RAB 10 headquarters after taking him in detention.
Masum was released about 10:30pm Thursday reportedly after repeated interventions of the home minister and the home secretary.
Masum needed to be rushed in to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment.
Soon after Masum's detention, different battalion officers came up with different stories as reason for the detention — some claimed Masum was found in possession of Pethedine, some said with Phensidyl (codeine) syrup while some others said they had found him with prostitutes.
The battalion, when it released Masum, said they had picked him up for not cooperating with the law enforcement agency.
He had marks of injury all over the body and his feet were swollen when he was released. CT scan and X-Ray were run on him. He is being treated in hospital.
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