Army withdraws camp commander in Cumilla, CA office orders urgent investigation
Different political parties and rights organisations in Dhaka and locals in Cumilla on Saturday protested at Friday鈥檚 custodial death of Touhidul Islam, a leader of Bangladesh Nationalist Party鈥檚 youth front Juba Dal.
The army-led joint forces detained 40-year-old Touhidul from his house in Cumilla city at about 3:00am on Friday and physicians at Cumilla Medical College Hospital declared him dead at about 12:30pm on the day when police took him to the hospital, the police and the victim鈥檚 family members said.
The Inter-Services Public Relation Directorate in a press release on Saturday said that Bangladesh Army withdrew the commander of a camp in Cumilla and formed a high-level probe committee over Friday鈥檚 death of Touhidul Islam.
The Chief Adviser鈥檚 Press Wing in a statement, issued minutes after issuing the ISPR release, said that the Chief Adviser鈥檚 Office had ordered an urgent investigation into the reported death.
The ISPR said that they had withdrawn the commander of the Army camp immediately and formed a high-level committee to know the exact reason for the death.
The ISPR release said that appropriate actions would be taken as per the army act against the people found guilty in the investigation.
According to the police and the victim鈥檚 family, Touhidul is the convener of Adarsha Sadar Upazila鈥檚 Panchthubi union unit of Juba Dal.
He used to work at the Chattogram RKU Company Limited and came to his village home to attend the qul khwani of his father who died four days ago.
Kotwali police station officer-in-charge Mohammad Mohinul Islam said that they received a call from the army to take Touhidul at about 11:00am on Friday.
鈥榃e sent a patrol team to the Gomati river area. Police received him in an unconscious state and took him to Comilla Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead at about 12:30pm on Friday,鈥� the OC said.
He said that the police requested the army personnel to accompany them but they left the scene saying that they had other works.
He said that the body was handed over to his family member after his post-mortem examination Friday night.
Asked whether the police saw any marks of torture on the victim鈥檚 body, the OC said, 鈥榃e saw some black marks on the body. Doctors can specifically tell about the matter.鈥�
The OC said that no case was filed in this connection until Saturday evening.
鈥楾ouhidul was not wanted in any case or general diary lodged with my police station. He was accused in a case filed under the Special Powers Act in 2018 but was acquitted later,鈥� the OC added.聽
The victim鈥檚 family members claimed that they found several injury marks on Touhidul鈥檚 body.
The statement issued by the CA鈥檚 press wing said that the interim government, led by Professor Muhammad Yunus, absolutely condemned any form of custodial torture and murder.
鈥楿pholding human rights in every sphere of national life is a core mission of this government, which includes some of the top rights activists in the country,鈥� the statement said.
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in a statement on Saturday expressed deep concern over the murder of Touhidul by security forces.
He urged the government to bring the perpetrators involved in聽the extrajudicial killing to book.聽
BNP鈥檚 student wing Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and youth wing Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal in separate statements claimed that he was picked up by joint forces from his home, tortured brutally, and given electric shocks.
They demanded a fair and independent investigation into the extrajudicial killing and demanded justice immediately.
In Cumilla, local people and the victim鈥檚 family members formed a human chain in front of Cumilla Press Club
protesting at the death of Touhidul in joint force鈥檚 custody and demanding punishment for the perpetrators through fair investigation, 抖阴精品 correspondent in Cumilla reported.
The protesters took the victim鈥檚 body there during the demonstration.
The victim鈥檚 wife Yasmin Nahar alleged that the joint forces and some people in civilian clothes entered their house at about 2:30am on Thursday and claimed that the raiders came to their home to recover illegal firearms.
The Student Against Discrimination also condemned the incident and said that the death was a tragic continuation of聽human rights violation in post-July Uprising聽Bangladesh.
Rights organisation Ain O Salish Kendra and the Bangladesh chapter of the International Human Rights Commission in separate statements on Saturday expressed concern over the death.
The Ganatantrik Odhikar Committee in a statement expressed deep concern over the extrajudicial killing in the name of joint drives.
Former Jahangirnagar University economics professor Anu Muhammad on behalf of the committee placed three demands 鈥� justice for the extrajudicial killings through fair investigations, sending back the army to barrack by cancelling their magistracy power, and ensuring safety for all citizens regardless of their religion, ethnicity and gender.
抖阴精品鈥檚 Dhaka University correspondent reported that leaders of the Ganatantrik Chhatra Jote held a
protest rally and brought out a procession protesting at the custodial death on the campus on Saturday evening demanding justice over the custodial death and withdrawing the magistracy power given to the army.
Bangladesh Chhatra Federation also brought out a torch procession demanding justice.
A total of 12 extrajudicial killings were reported from August 8 to December 31 in 2024, according to ASK data.
