HC orders police to accept BB official’s complaint of SI torture as FIR

The High Court has ordered the Mohammadpur police OC to accept as First Information Report (FIR) Bangladesh Bank official Golam Rabbi’s written complaint of being tortured by a sub-inspector.

The court on Monday also asked why the torture of Rabbi in police custody should not be declared unconstitutional.

The ruling came after hearing on a petition lodged by three petitioners, lawyers AKM Ehsanur Rahman and SM Zulfiqar Ali and Radio Dhoni news broadcaster Zahid Hasan.

The petitioners had also sought judicial investigation into the police high-handedness and Tk 30 million in compensation for the victim, but the court did not give any order regarding them.

It did not issue any order either for the arrest of the accused, Sub-Inspector Masud Shikdar of Mohammadpur Police Station.

The home and law secretaries, the inspector general of police, the Tejgaon DC, the Mohammadpur Police Station OC and Shikdar on Monday were asked to respond to the ruling within two weeks.
 
Bangladesh Bank communications department official Rabbi was allegedly confined in a police vehicle and tortured by Shikdar in a bid to extort money from him on the night of Jan 9 in Mohammadpur.
 
The police official had reportedly asked him to pay up or face prosecution as a Yaba dealer and addict.
 
Rabbi submitted the written complaint to the deputy commissioner (Tejgaon) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police the following day.
 
After the allegations surfaced, SI Shikdar was taken off duty on Jan 11 and then suspended five days later.
 
Rabbi, with wounds on his right hand and left leg, is under treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
 
Shikdar rejects the allegations against him, saying they had detained Rabbi because he failed to explain what he was doing in that area so late at night.