Custodial death: HC seeks postmortem report, details of those grilled Sultana

The High Court on Monday sought a postmortem report and details of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) officials involved in arresting and interrogating Sultana Jasmine of Naogaon, who died in the custody of the elite force on March 24.

The HC bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Ahmed Sohel made the orders after taking newspaper reports into account regarding the custodial death.

UNB adds: Concerned government officials have been asked to produce these reports before the court by tomorrow.

Advocate Manoj Kumar Bhowmik presented the reports published in various news outlets before the court. After that, the High Court asked Assistant Attorney General Abul Kalam Khan Daud to find out whether there was any case involving the death.

After 15 minutes, the state lawyer told the court that no case has been filed so far.

Earlier, an employee of a union land office died in the custody of the RAB being allegedly tortured by the elite force on Friday morning.

The deceased was identified as Sultana Jesmine, 45, office assistant at the Chandipur union land office of Naogaon Sadar upazila.

The victim was detained from Muktirmor area of Naogaon city on Wednesday morning and died at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital on Friday morning.

However, the elite force denied the allegation of torture. They claimed that the victim was arrested for interrogation as there was an accusation of fraudulence against her.

Shahed Hossain Saikat, son of Sultana Jesmine, alleged that his mother was a victim of a conspiracy. “She was tortured while in RAB custody which led to her death.”

Naogaon municipality’s former councilor and Sultana's uncle Nazmul Haque Mantu told journalists that Sultana was arrested by a group of people wearing RAB uniforms on Wednesday morning from Muktirmor area.

“After 12 pm, we came to know that Sultana had been under treatment at Naogaon Hospital. We rushed and found RAB people there. My niece was unable to speak at that time”, said Nazmul Haque Mantu.

Rajshahi RAB-5 Company Commander Major Nazmus Sakib said they got an allegation of fraud against Sultana and arrested her for interrogation, finding evidence of an unusual transaction in her bank statement.

“She fell sick immediately after the detention and was rushed to Nagaon Sadar Hospital. After primary treatment she was moved to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital where she died of a stroke on Friday morning”, said the RAB officer.