A case has been filed against the Senior Jail Superintendent, Jailer and 16 people on the charge of unnatural death of a prisoner named Rubel Dey (38) in Chittagong Jail. Tuesday (February 20) at noon Metropolitan Sessions Judge. Puravi Palit, Rubel’s wife, appealed the case to Begum Zebunnesha’s court. The court accepted the application. Ajay Dhar, the plaintiff’s lawyer, said that he has checked and kept it for later hearing.
On January 27, the Boalkhali Thana police sent Rubel to jail through the court in the case of recovery of brewed liquor. On the morning of February 5, relatives received the news of Rubel’s death from prison.
Those who have been charged with the case are Senior Jail Superintendent (Acting) of Chittagong Jail Muhammad Manjur Hossain, District Muhammad Emran Hossain Mia, Deputy District Naushad Mia, Md. Akherul Islam, Sumaiya Khatun, Ibrahim, Ward No. 15 Master of Padma Prison, Boalkhali Police Station OC Md. Achhab Uddin, Inspector (Investigation) of the same police station. Saiful Islam, Sub Inspector (SI) SM Abu Musa, Rizaul Jabbar, Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Main Uddin, Md. Saiful Islam, Constable Kamal, Asadullah and the duty officer of the police station on the day of the incident. Besides, some unknown others have been accused.
Abdur Rashid, counsel for the state side of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court, said, “The court has accepted the application and said that the hearing will be held after scrutiny.”
In the statement of the case, the plaintiff mentioned that they are residents of Beni Madhab’s house in Dakshin Jaisthpura of Boalkhali Upazila. Last January 27 at 3 pm Rubel was taken from home by local chowkidar Joy Chakraborty and UP member Chowdhury Md. Police arrested with the help of Hasan Chowdhury. On that day at around 8 pm, a false case of arrest was arranged with the mention of a special operation. At around 9 pm, the police called and demanded a bribe of two lakh rupees from the family to free Rubel. If the money is not paid, they threaten to send challan to the court in a false case with 500 liters of brewed liquor. When the family refused to pay, a false case of recovery of 200 liters of brewed liquor was arranged at the police station. Also, a policeman made a fake seizure list and filed a false case against Rubel at Boalkhali police station. The next day, on January 28, SI Rizaul Jabba of Boalkhali police station handed over Rubel to the court, keeping Jabba’s injuries a secret. Later the court ordered to send him to prison.
Relatives visited Rubel in prison on February 2. That day he was brought in front of his relatives in a wheelchair. Then the relatives found Rubel with a wound on his forehead, his right eye brow, saliva dripping from his mouth, his head hanging down in a dull state. He didn’t even have the strength to speak.
When asked to know the reason, the prison guards chased away the relatives and took Rubel to prison. On February 4, through a lawyer, Rubel’s relatives applied to the court for better treatment. The judge directed the jail superintendent to accept the application and inform the court about taking action as per the rules. At 8 am on February 5, Puravi Palit learned that Rubel had passed away through local UP member Pradeep Sutradhar. His body is in Chittagong Medical College Hospital morgue. They went there and found the body.
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Puravi Palit told Bengali Tribune, ‘Rubel was completely healthy at the time of arrest. Tortured in police stations and jails. It died. I want a fair investigation into the incident. I want severe punishment for those involved in the murder of the husband.’
Ajay Dhar, the lawyer for the plaintiff, said, ‘The charge under Section 15(2) of Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act-2013 has been made in the statement of the case. The court accepted the case. After checking, the judge kept it for later hearing. However, the hearing date has not been fixed. In the case, 16 people have been accused along with some other unknown persons.
When asked about the incident, Boalkhali Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md. Achhab Uddin said, ‘Rubel was given a challan to the court the day after his arrest along with liquor. After filing the case with the amount of alcohol found in his possession, it has been handed over to the court. There was no torture or beating in the police station. The police station has CCTV cameras. Rubel was healthy when taken to court. He got into the car on foot. Even on the day he was taken to court, he was healthy. Because of this, the court ordered to send him to prison instead of hospital. We do not know what happened there after being taken to prison.’
