The police in its report submitted to the court have not mentioned that Bakhtiyar Alam Rony, son of a ruling party MP, shot dead two persons even though the law enforcers had made such claim before media.
The shooting from an sports utility vehicle (SUV) took place in the early hours of Apr 14 at Dhaka’s New Eskaton, but Rony, son of Awami League MP Pinu Khan, was arrested on May 31.
A day later, the vehicle’s driver Imran Fakir issued a confessional statement in court, but Rony had kept mum.
On Thursday, Investigation officer (IO) Sub-Inspector Deepak Kumar claimed Rony had admitted to “firing from his licensed gun”.
“He was under the influence of drug,” Kumar said.
After a four-day remand, Rony was sent to jail on Saturday when he was produced before a Dhaka court.
But the police report submitted to the court after the remand did not mention that Rony was responsible for the murders, said Mahmudur Rahman, General Registrar Officer in the Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.
“Police in its report claimed to have found some important pieces of information over the killings and firing from Bakhtiyar (Rony). But it does not say that he had killed them or two people died of shots fired from his gun,” Rahman told bdnews24.com.
He added that neither investigating officer (IO) Deepak Kumar nor the defendant on Saturday pleaded with the court for recording of confessional statements.
The IO, however, says confessional statement from the defendant was not necessary as they had evidences.
“He will not give confessional statement, but we have evidences and witnesses ready to testify. Confessional statement is not needed,” Kumar, a sub-inspector with the police’s Detective Branch told bdnews24.com.
“A confessional statement is not mandatory if there’s conclusive evidence against the defendant. Suppose after making a confession to police, he tells court that it was obtained by torture, then the statement will be rejected”
He said that they did not go for confessional statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for “the sake of the investigation”.
“If there’s material evidence (against the defendant) then it’s not necessary to state it in the report filed with the court after a remand,” added the investigation officer.
Legal experts, however, find it mysterious that police did not mention about Rony’s involvement in the killing in the report submitted to the court despite telling so to the media.
Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association’s former general secretary SM Rezaul Karim says that departmental measures can be initiated against the IO for issuing conflicting statements. “The police can take steps against him viewing this as his inefficiency.”
Asked whether it would affect the trial, he said, “A lawsuit depends on the evidences and documents filed with the court and not statements made to the media.”
According to police, auto-rickshaw driver Yakub Ali and rickshaw-puller Abdul Hakim were shot dead in a random firing from a black Land Cruiser Prado SUV around 1:45am on Apr 14.
Hakim’s mother Monowara Begum filed a case at Ramna Police Station against unidentified people on Apr 15.
The detectives were tasked with the investigation on May 24.
Rony’s mother Pinu Khan, a reserved seat MP and Mohila Awami League General Secretary, told bdnews24.com: “I respect the law and I seek justice. I will not comment anything more on a sub-judice matter.”
Source: bdnews24
