Four policemen withdrawn from duty over death of tea-seller

Four policemen have been withdrawn from duty over the death of a tea-seller from burns after police allegedly attacked him, causing an oil spill from a stove, in Dhaka’s Shah Ali area.

The action was taken hours after the death of tea-seller Babul Matubbor.
 
Matubbor was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Wednesday night and died at its Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at around 1:30 pm on Thursday.
 
The withdrawn policemen are Sub-Inspectors Mominur Rahman Khan and Niaz Uddin Molla, Assistant Sub-Inspector Debendra Nath and Constable Jasim Uddin, police said.
 
Meanwhile, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has formed a two-member committee to probe the incident.
 
Its members are Mirpur Division Additional Deputy Commissioner Masud Ahmed and Assistant Commissioner Mahbub Hossain.
 
The committee has been asked to submit its report in the shortest possible time, said DMP Deputy Commissioner (media) Maruf Hossain Sardar.
 
He said Deputy Commissioner Tutul Chakrabarty at DMP headquarters had been assigned to investigate the incident separately.
 
Sardar told bdnews24.com, “They (withdrawn policemen) were on duty in the area during the incident. Probe is going on after their withdrawal to determine if there was any negligence of duty on their part.”
 
The 45-year-old tea-seller suffered 90 percent burns on his body.
 
His family alleged Matubbor was assaulted by policemen who demanded that he give them money.
 
But police claimed he was a drug dealer and had caught fire while trying to flee from a police informer.