Babul Akter, a former superintendent of police suspected of masterminding the murder of his wife Mahmuda Akter Mitu, has appealed to the court seeking the safety of his life after he alleged that his cell at a Feni jail was searched illegally.
His lawyer Golam Mawla Murad filed the petition with Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge Jebunnessa Begum on Monday, reports bdnews24.com.
The court will make a decision on the complaint on Sept 19.
“Babul Akter previously moved a court to file a case against six police officers, including the chief of the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), for torturing him to extract a confession over his wife’s murder on Thursday,” lawyer Murad said.
“Following the instructions and under the influence of the suspects named in that case, Feni Model Police Station chief Nizam Uddin conducted a search after entering Babul’s jail cell for a long time on Sept 10,” he added, citing the complaint.
OC Nizam Uddin denied the allegation and said he went there to meet the jail superintendent for the investigation in another case.
The lawyer urged the authorities to check CCTV footage to verify OC Nizam’s entry into the jail.
Babul complained in the plea that they broke the jail code in an attempt to harm him, but just because it was not successful this time does not mean that his jailers cannot harm him or threaten him and his family’s lives at any time in the future.
“According to the jail code, a police officer is not allowed to enter the prison without written permission from a district magistrate and the court,” his lawyer Murad said.
“OC Nizam entered the jail, breaching the code of conduct to do harm and intimidate Babul,” he added citing the complaint filed under Section 11 of the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act 2013.
Babul also urged the court to order a probe into the incident, and instruct the superintendent of Feni jail to ensure his safety.
“I went there to meet the jail superintendent for another case. I did not even remember that Babul Akter was in that jail. Do I have the right to enter his cell without permission from the court? I don’t know who is saying these things and why,” OC Nizam asked.
The court will make a decision on Babul's complaint against six police officers and the PBI chief on Sept 19 as well.
PBI chief Banaj Kumar Majumder, SP Nazmul Hasan of Chattogram PBI, SP Nayeema Sultana of Chattogram Metropolitan Police, the then Chattogram PBI inspectors Santosh Kumar Chakma and AKM Mohiuddin Selim and PBI Inspector Kazi Enayet Kabir were named in the case.
Babul complained that he was detained from May 10 to May 17 and tortured in custody where he was handcuffed, not allowed to sleep or take a bath and was also denied water for ablution before prayers, the case document says. Babul was detained illegally, threatened with harm, demeaned and tortured, it said.
Mitu was hacked and shot dead near the GEC Intersection in Chattogram on the morning of Jun 5, 2016, while she was taking her son to school.
After the killing of his wife, Babul himself filed a murder case against unknown suspects with the port city’s Panchlaish Police Station.
The PBI said they found evidence directly linking Babul Akter to the daylight murder of his wife Mahmuda Akter Mitu in their final report on the initial case. Mitu’s father Mosharraf opened a fresh murder case against Babul and nine others on the same day.
PBI submitted the final report on Jan 25 on the case filed by Mosharraf and the court accepted it on Mar 6.