Ex-army major Sinha’s family to charge police with murder as Hasina promises justice

The family of Sinha Md Rashed Khan are preparing to sue the police accusing them of firing on the former army major with “an intention to murder”.

The family also thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who promised a fair investigation, justice and financial support, her Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim said in a statement on Tuesday.    

Sinha, 36, was a member of the Special Security Force, tasked with guarding the prime minister. His father late Ershad Khan was a deputy secretary at the finance ministry.

Hasina phoned his mother Nasima Akhter to extend her sympathy, Karim said. 

The former army officer had been staying at Nilima Resort in Himchhari of Cox’s Bazar with three others for around a month to film a travel documentary.

After his death on Jul 31 night, police said they fired in self-defence when he brandished a pistol after obstructing a search of his vehicle at the checkpoint at Shamlapur along the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive.

They also said they seized drugs from the vehicle, and detained a person from the scene and another from the resort. Two cases have been initiated over the incident.

But the police account has been greeted with disbelief and there was doubt over whether Rashed has indeed pointed the gun at the policemen.

There were allegations that the members of the law-enforcing agency were late in taking him to hospital. With these questions hanging heavy in the air, the government has formed a committee to investigate the incident.

Speaking to bdnews24.com, Sinha’s elder sister Sharmin Shahriar Ferdous rejected the police claims.

“It would take only four seconds for Adnan (Sinha’s nickname) to draw his gun and fire. But he didn’t do that. Instead, he was fired upon with an intention to murder. We will file a murder case,” she said.  

“A case needs to be filed for justice. We are doing the groundwork for that. We will file the murder case within two to three days after consultations,” she added.

Sinha had commando training. He retired on his own volition two years ago when he was at Syedpur Cantonment. Their younger sister lives in the US.

“Adnan is five years junior to me, but he was the family’s source of energy. We consulted him all the time. He took father’s place after his death in 2007,” Sharmin said.

The sister said the authorities granted him retirement two years after he expressed his wish to quit the job. “They didn’t want to lose him. They even requested our mother to make him rethink the decision,” she said.

Sinha had told them that he had learnt many things in his 17- to 18-year career in the army but wanted to di something else: globe-trotting.

“He had even readied his 25-kg backpack with cycling equipment and other things. He was supposed to begin from China, but it had to wait due to the coronavirus pandemic,” Sharmin said.   

The sister recalled how much Sinha loved to travel. “He had asked mother to save money for him so that he can travel to the Himalayas when he was a student of class two.” 

“He was a happy person, a lover of nature and wildlife,” the sister said.