Photo : Collected
A four-member investigation committee has been formed over the incident of a Detective Branch (DB) police officer pointing a firearm at a woman's head after not finding her husband, accused in a case, during a raid on the couple’s house in Brahmanbaria on Friday.
The committee headed by Additional Superintendent of Police Md Iqbal Hossain has been asked to submit a report within three working days.
The incident has caused backlash. The Brahmanbaria district DB police conducted the raid to capture an expatriate on charges of gold embezzlement.
It was alleged that old people, children, and even women were not spared from the beatings of the DB officials during the raid. A few blank rounds were fired to spread panic.
A case of embezzlement of 400 grams of gold was filed against Nurul Alam Nuru, an expatriate in Saudi Arabia, about a month ago with Brahmanbaria Sadar Police Station. He is from Thaliara village in Natai North union of Brahmanbaria Sadar upazila.
It was alleged that Nurul had brought gold from Saudi Arabia for a person named Abdul Quddus but did not hand over the whole shipment. Abdul Quddus' son Enamul Haque filed a case as the plaintiff in this incident.
In that case, at 5pm on Friday, on the basis of secret information that Nurul was at home, a team of Brahmanbaria DB police, including Sub-Inspector Rezaul Karim, raided his home in plainclothes to catch him.
At that time, the ceremony of circumcising Nurul’s nephew was going on. The family alleged that a group of people identifying themselves as detectives came to the house looking for Nurul. They become aggressive when they did not get him. At that time, there was a scuffle between the police and those at the house, including women.
At one point, SI Rezaul pointed a pistol at the forehead of Banya Begum, Nurul’s wife. He also took away cash and gold ornaments from the house. A dilemma has arisen over whether they are detectives or robbers.
Nurul’s brother Sarwar Alam, who was present at the time of the incident, alleged that people in plainclothes entered the house and started looking for his brother. They refused to accept when they were said that Nurul was not at home. At that time, they beat some people, including Banya. A nine-year-old girl named Nishat was not spared from their beatings either.
“Even I was attacked. They deleted some videos captured with mobile phones. A case has been filed against my brother regarding gold. My brother did not bring the gold. It was given to my brother through another person, they said. Why would our house be attacked like this to catch my brother? We have reported the matter to the police station. A case will be filed,” said Sarwar said.
“They pointed pistols and also fired shots. We also have the bullet shells. Investigation will reveal the truth,” he said.
Banya said her husband was framed in a false case for not making Abdul Quddus a business partner abroad.
“Circumcision ceremony was going on in our house on the day of the incident. At that time, five to six people came in plainclothes and identified themselves as DB and took the almirah key from us. They searched the almirah and did not find anything. But they took away around Tk 5 lakh along with the gold ornaments worn on the neck.”
“Nishat screamed and was hit on the head with a gun, resulting in bleeding. The circumcised nephew was slapped. When I protested, they held pistols to my forehead and fired blank shots. We want a fair trial of this incident.”
SI Rezaul said, “When the plaintiff informed us about the matter, Inspector Mofazzal Ali along with a constable first went there. After a while, I went. I could hear loud noise from far away.”
“They misbehaved after I went there and assisted the accused to escape. There was a fight over this. I had a pistol in my hand. But I did not point it at anyone. No one was beaten. As our target is to arrest the accused, we focused on that. That is why we did not take action. We went to the house after the plaintiff came and said the accused was there,” he said.
Advocate Mahbubul Alam Khokon, Public Prosecutor of Brahmanbaria District Judge Court, said that it is not legal to go on raids without uniforms.
Superintendent of Police Md Shakhawat Hossain said, “If any officer behaves discourteously during raids to arrest the accused, we will take appropriate action. We will investigate the matter thoroughly and take the necessary legal action.”
Messenger/Fameema
