High Court seeks autopsy report on Naogaon woman who died in RAB custody

It also asks which officers were involved in the quizzing of Sultana Jasmine, an employee of a land office in Naogaon

The High Court has ordered officials to submit the post-mortem examination report on a woman who died in the custody of the Rapid Action Battalion in Nagaon.

The court on Monday also asked the names of the officers in the quizzing of the victim, Sultana Jasmine, an employee of a local union land office.

The panel of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Ahmed Sohel passed the orders after Supreme Court lawyer Manoj Kumar Bhowmik drew their attention to newspaper reports on the incident.

Assistant Attorney General Abul Kalam Khan Daud said the court would hear the matter on Tuesday.

The RAB said it picked up Sultana 45, an office assistant at the land office in Chandipur union under the Sadar Upazila, for quizzing around 10am on Mar 22 over allegations of fraud and abnormal transactions in her bank account.

RAB-5 Commander Nazmus Sakib said they picked Sultana up after finding evidence of corruption in her bank statement. “But she fell ill immediately after her detention.”

He claimed Sultana fell ill before she was taken to a camp.

Sultana’s uncle Nazmul Haque Montu questioned the whereabouts of Sultana after she was picked up.

“My niece was detained around 10am. She was admitted to Naogaon Sadar Hospital around 2pm. We don’t know where she was during these four hours – whether in a RAB camp or in a police station.”

“We want the truth about her death through a proper investigation.”

Nazmul said Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, where Sultana died on Mar 24, did not provide any autopsy report until Monday night.

A doctor at the Naogaon hospital said Sultana developed symptoms of a heart disease while the RAB said she died of a stroke.

Citing a CT scan report, the Rajshahi hospital’s Director FM Shamim Ahmmed said Sultana suffered brain haemorrhage and had a small red bruise in the head.

Faysal Bin Ahsan, chief of Naogaon Sadar Model Police Station, said no case was filed over Sultana’s death.