Traumatised BB official hospitalised

A Bangladesh Bank official traumatised by alleged police torture was admitted to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) this afternoon.

Golam Rabbi, 28, an assistant director of BB, along with his friends went to the Neurosurgery Department around 5:00pm and later in the evening got admitted to the casualty ward of the hospital, the hospital sources said.

He is suffering from pain in his head and shoulder severely and also facing mental problem after the incident, the victim’s friends told The Daily Star.     

Cops allegedly tortured Rabbi for refusing to pay Tk 5 lakh as bribe in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur area on Saturday night.

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According to the victim, the law enforcers reportedly threatened Rabbi with implicating him in a false narcotics case.

Golam Rabbi was returning to his Kalyanpur home from a relative's house on Taj Mahal Road around 11:00pm on that day.

Some constables of Mohammadpur Police Station, who were in a police pickup truck parked nearby, came forward and asked him to meet their senior officer in the vehicle, Rabbi said.

As he went there, Sub-Inspector Masud Shikder of the police station pushed and shoved him into the pickup.

“The SI first asked me how much my job was worth. He then calculated it himself to be Tk 25 to 30 lakh,” said Rabbi. “You are in a good position. So, pay us Tk 5 to 6 lakh and go away. Otherwise, a case will be filed against you for carrying Yaba pills,” Rabbi quoted the SI as saying.

The cops took Tk 10,000 and a debit card from him and told him to call relatives for arranging the money, he further alleged.

The policemen then kept on slapping and kicking him whilst the pickup travelled on different streets in the area. The policemen released him around 2:30am, Rabbi said.

Rabbi later took primary treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Rabbi, also a former news anchor at a television channel, filed a complaint with Mohammadpur Police Station.

Asked, SI Masud refuted the allegation brought against him. He, however, admitted that he had a conversation with Rabbi during the time the complaint mentioned.

Officer-in-Charge Jamaluddin Mir of Mohammadpur Police Station said he received a complaint.

Quoting SI Masud, the OC said a patrol team frisked Rabbi as he was out late at night. But Rabbi refused to cooperate. Later, the policemen handed him over to his friends.

Contacted, Deputy Commissioner Biplab Kumar Sarkar of Tejgaon Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police said he had heard about the incident.

Police has already launched an investigation into the matter, he added.