By Mizan Rahman
Dhaka
A court in Dhaka yesterday sentenced a former senior police officer to three years’ imprisonment for torturing a Dhaka University (DU) student in police custody in 2011. The court also fined him 10,000 taka, in default, to suffer three months more in jail.
According to the case statement, a team of plainclothesmen from the Khilgaon police station accosted Abdul Kadar the early hours of July 16, 2011 while he was returning to his dormitory from a relative’s house. They reportedly started beating him without any provocation. He was then taken to the Khilgaon police station. Helal Uddin was the officer in-charge of the police station.
According to the charge-sheet, Helal Uddin took him to a room and forced him to admit to various crimes he had never committed.
Kadar received injuries on his back, legs and other parts of the body due to beating and a machete attack.
Police lodged two cases against him - one for robbery and another for possession of an illegal firearm - while he was shown arrested in another false case filed with Mohammadpur police station for carjacking.
Teachers and students of DU and people from different walks of life reacted sharply to the police torture on Kadar, then a Masters student of biochemistry.
Kadar was freed on bail on August 3, 2011 after 18 days of his detention. Later, a court
acquitted him of the charges.
