Nefarious brutality of Bangladesh police
by News Desk
April 23, 2012
Few members of Bangladesh Police have started nefarious brutality on the civilians and continuing gross violation of human rights. When members of Bangladesh Nationalist Party led 18 National Party [BNP] Alliance announced agitation programs in protest of enforced disappearance of BNP's organizing secretary and former Member of Parliament M Ilias Ali, members of the law enforcing agencies have started behaving like political cadres thus arresting people en-messe and even blindfolding or torturing them right inside the police station. The worst-ever news of such police brutality came from the southern district of Khulna, where the officer-in-charge of S M Kamruzzaman hang Mahmumudul Haque Tito, a student of Khulna B L College & University, while another student named Ferdousur Rahman Munna of Azam Khan College was blindfolded and beaten for participating in opposition programs. Following such gross violations of human rights, local residents of Khulna town have started agitating against the barbaric police officers and demanded exemplary punishment. Officer-in-charge S M Kamruzzaman initially tried to deny that he had hang any student with the ceiling hook at the police station as well as blindfolding and beating another student. When the officer-in-charge [OC] was told by reporters that their notoriety had been secretly photographed by the reporters, he [OC] tried to stop the reporters from releasing the photographs by offering them bribes. Though the allegation of such police brutality was brought to the attention of senior officials of Khulna divisional police, they initially tried to defend the office-in-charge stating, they [police] have instruction from the higher authorities in handling the hartal [general strike] picketers with tougher hands. Later when the local human rights groups started protesting such police atrocities, the divisional commissioner assured "departmental inquiry" into this matter.
Seeking anonymity several police officers in Khulna division told Weekly Blitz that if any of the officers are found showing softer attitude towards opposition activists or leaders, he or she faces stern punishment for "non cooperation with the ruling party". In many cases, the sources claimed, police officers are compelled to torture the arrested opposition leaders and activists, while there are also several police officers, who behave like political cadre of the ruling party.
"There are officers from Gopalgang or greater Faridpur district while many also have been activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League [student front of Bangladesh Awami League] during their student life. For this reason, many of such officers consider themselves as activists of Bangladesh Awami League instead of being the servant of the Republic", the source added.
It said, "State-patronized repression of civilians have crossed all previous records and Bangladesh virtually has now turned into a police state."
It may be mentioned here that, opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and partners of its 18 party national alliance started protests around the country following enforced disappearance of BNP's central leader M Ilias Ali. With the latest incident of enforced disappearance of M Ilias Ali, the mass people and the politicians are greatly traumatized, as in most cases of enforced disappearances; dead bodies of these people are later found either in jungles, river banks or remote areas. According to Ain O Shalish Kendra, twenty-two people had disappeared this year so far without a trace creating deep anxiety among people as law enforcers' involvement was widely speculated. As many as 51 people went missing in 2011 while the number was 30 in the year 2010. Of them, 21 bodies were recovered by either people or law enforcers.Assistant Manager
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