World News | Seven Policemen Sent to Jail over Retired Army Major's Murder in Bangladesh
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. A Bangladesh court on Thursday sent seven policemen, accused of killing a retired Army major, to jail pending legal procedures in the case after rejecting their bail applications.
Dhaka, Aug 6 (PTI) A Bangladesh court on Thursday sent seven policemen, accused of killing a retired Army major, to jail pending legal procedures in the case after rejecting their bail applications.
The court in southeast Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar ordered Officer-in-Charge of Teknaf police station Prodip Kumar, main accused Inspector Liakat Ali and five others to be sent to jail where they would await further procedures.
Ali is said to have shot Major (Retired) Sinha Mohammed Rashed Khan, 36, on Friday at a check-post in Cox's Bazar.
“Senior Judicial Magistrate Md Helal Uddin ordered them be sent to prison to await subsequent legal procedures, rejecting their bail prayers,” Public Prosecutor Faridul Alam told reporters after coming from the courtroom.
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The court issued the orders after the accused surrendered before it.
Rashed, who took voluntary retirement two years ago, was killed in police firing on Friday at a check-post in Cox's Bazar, triggering an uproar across the country.
Immediately after the incident, the authorities concerned withdrew 16 policemen, including the check-post in-charge.
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), which includes personnel from both military and police, has been entrusted with Rashed's murder investigation and prosecutors said the elite anti-crime unit was likely to soon seek the custody of the accused.
Khan, who took voluntary retirement two years ago, had served Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as a member of the special security force.
According to family members, Rashed used to make travel documentaries following his retirement and was staying at Cox's Bazar for the last two months for making a film.
Rashed was killed when he was returning to Cox's Bazar from Teknaf, bordering Myanmar, along with an associate in a private car and as the duo reached the check point, police halted the vehicle and after knowing Rashed's identity, signalled them to proceed, the Prothom Alo newspaper reported, citing an “intelligence agency report”.
However, they immediately stopped them again and ordered the duo to come out of the car.
The report said as Rashed came out of the car, the check-post in-charge inspector Liakat Ali shot him three times.
The Army in its statement on Thursday said the police force has assured to prevent “any such incident” in future.
“On behalf of the police, it has been assured that this will be last such incident (and) no such incident will take place in future,” Defence Ministry's Inter Service Public Relations (ISR) Directorate said.
It said the Army troops have decided to jointly patrol the areas with police where Rashed was shot dead to restore “confidence of people” in the neighbourhood.
On Wednesday, the chiefs of the Bangladesh Army and police termed Rashed's killing as an "isolated incident", saying that it would not create any rift between the two forces despite attempts by some quarters.
They also visited the crime scene together.
Media reports suggested that the place where Rashed was murdered was a major drug route where some 200 people were killed in the past two years in what police said “encounters” with drug traffickers.
Prime Minister Hasina on Tuesday assured Rashed's mother that a "proper" probe would be carried out into his killing by the police.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)