Police deny torturing foreigner in custody

Police have denied allegations that a foreign national arrested over ATM fraud was tortured in custody.

The German embassy said its citizen Piotr Szcdepan Mazurek was abused following his arrest in February.

The letter sent to the foreign ministry has been forwarded to the home ministry.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Additional Commissioner Monirul Islam said Mazurek was granted “every privilege that a foreigner and a detainee is entitled to.”

He was visited by his wife and embassy representatives while he was in custody, said Monirul.

“They didn’t tell us anything about torture after they met him. We didn’t receive any complaint even later.” 

On Feb 22, police arrested Mazurek from Dhaka’s Gulshan area. He was born in Ukraine but is a German citizen. 

Earlier that month, several clients from three banks – UCBL, City Bank and Eastern Bank Ltd – had reported loss of money from their banks accounts after getting texts messages saying the sums had been withdrawn from ATMs.

Police later found the fraudsters had installed skimming devices and video cameras at four ATMs to steal card information.

Some of them were caught after the scanning of booth security footage.

This was the first instance of a cyber crime in Bangladesh involving foreign nationals.
Two others, who were said to have been Mazurek’s accomplices in the racket, have managed to flee the country.

Detectives said their investigation was almost over and charges would soon be filed against at least five including Mazurek. 

Police have also arrested four City Bank officials.

Mazurek received medical treatment after he fell ill while being taken to prison, police said. He was now being held in Gazipur’s Kashimpur Jail.