A Dhaka court on Wednesday sentenced three police officials including Sub-Inspector Zahidur Rahman Zahid to life imprisonment over a case filed in connection with the custodial death of Ishtiaque Ahmed Jony in police custody in 2014.
This is the first-ever verdict in Bangladesh under the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013. The case was also the first filed under this Act.
The other two cops receiving life sentence are -- Pallabi police station assistant sub-inspectors Kamruzzaman Mintu and Rashedul Islam.
Besides, two other accused in this case, Sumon and Russell, the informants of the police officials, each was awarded seven years of imprisonment.
Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Emrul Kayesh passed the order on Wednesday after hearing the arguments of the defence and the prosecution.
On August 24, Judge KM Emrul Kayesh of Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court set September 9 as the date for the verdict in the case.
According to the case statement, on the night of February 9, 2014, an argument took place between police informants Sumon and Jony over some girls being harassed at a pre-wedding programme in Irani Camp under Pallabi police station.
Half-an-hour later, a team of police including SI Zahidur went there and vandalised the stage. They also picked up Jony, his brother Rocky and a few others from the ceremony, and took them to the police station. The detainees were tortured in police custody. The accused policemen then allegedly tortured Jony to death, according to the case statement.
Later, a seriously ill Jony was taken to the National Heart Foundation, where doctors declared him dead.
On August 7, 2014, a court ordered a judicial inquiry into the custodial death of Jony, after his brother Imtiaz Hossain Rocky filed a murder case.
Following the order, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Maruf Hossain conducted a judicial inquiry and submitted the probe report to the court on February 17 in 2015, accusing five people to be involved in the incident.
Later, SI Jahid and Sumon were arrested and since have been in jail while Md Kamruzzaman Minto and Rashedul Hassan obtained bail. Russell has been on the run since the incident.
The court has already issued a warrant for Minto as he did not appear before it during the hearing.
The court framed charges against the five on April 17, 2016, and deposition of witnesses began on May 16 the same year.
After the court recorded depositions of some witnesses, the accused filed a writ with the High Court seeking a stay on the trial proceedings at the lower court.
On February 27, 2019, the HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman cleared the way for the lower court to resume trial against all the accused, including the two suspended police officials in connection with the Jony murder case.
The bench also ordered the trial court to finish the proceedings within 180 days, as per the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013.
Later, the order was sent to the lower court and deposition of witnesses started again in 2019.
The court recorded statements of 24 witnesses before fixing Wednesday to deliver the verdict.
nh/teb
