Chased by DB, 4 drown in Dinajpur river

Locals gather on the bank of a Dinajpur river where four people drown after being chased by detectives on Thursday.

At least four people drowned after they jumped into a river as detectives chased them suspecting them as gamblers in Dinajpur on Wednesday.

 The authorities on Thursday closed 10 members of the Detective Branch of Police to Dinajpur Police Lines for their alleged involvement with the incident.

A three-member body was formed headed by Habibur Rahman Pramanik, an assistant superintendent of police, to probe the matter.

 The deceased are Md Jamal Hossain Mini, 40, Sabuj Saha, 33, Awlad Hossain, 33, and Md Ismail Hossain, 28.

 The incident angered locals, reports our Dinajpur correspondent.

 Md Asraful Islam, a local, said a team of detectives led by Md Motiur Rahman, a sub-inspector, raided Bangibechaghat in Dinajpur Sadar upazila around 6:00pm Wednesday to nab gamblers.

When the law enforcers encircled around 20 to 25 gamblers, they jumped into the river to escape the arrest.

 Many of them swam ashore while four to five people remained missing, he added.

Locals rescued Jamal around 7:00pm on Wednesday and rushed him to Dinajpur Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead.

Members of Fire Service and Civil Defence rescued the other three bodies on Thursday.

Abdulla Hil Zaman, officer-in-charge (acting) of DB, Dinajpur denied chasing the gamblers. However, he admitted that DB went there on Wednesday evening riding five motorcycles.

Source: The Daily Star