A forceful message

IT is indeed heartening to see justice finally meted out to Md Helal Uddin, who as the OC of Khilgaon Police station picked up Abdul Kadar, a meritorious Dhaka University student, tortured him in custody and later tried to arrest him on trumped-up charges. The judgment indeed sets a precedent in the country's criminal justice system that hardly sees law enforcers put on the dock for custodial torture and lodging false cases.    

We laud the judiciary's timely intervention in a matter of severe infraction of law based on reports in the press. This will help restore respect for the rule of law, which is the basis of good, benevolent governance. We also believe that Kadar's tenacious pursuit of law to vindicate his position will inspire other victims to unwaveringly fight for their rights.   

The incident also magnifies the extent to which some members of the law enforcing agencies flout the law and indiscriminately use violent means to falsely implicate the victims. Through this judgment the expected role of the police as protector of the citizens has been dinned into the ear of an errant official.  It is a forceful reminder to the police about desensitisation of their role and holding them to account for their malfeasance.