Representational image.
Another activist of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party died in prison in Bagerhat on Tuesday night.
The victim, Kamal Hossain, 43, a leader of Jubdal, a wing organisation of the BNP in Khulna, was arrested on violence charges on November 11, 2023.
Kamal was rushed to Bagerhat Sadar Hospital after he had been found unconscious in his cell on Tuesday night. Doctors declared him dead as soon as he was taken to the hospital, said Bagerhat jail superintendent (acting) Shankar Kumar Majumder.
With Kamal, at least nine BNP activists have died in prison since October 28 when the police started crackdown on the party people.
Kamal was an executive committee member of Khulna city unit of Jubodal. He is from Sankivanga village in Morelganj upazila.
In a virtual briefing, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said that the Kamal was incarcerated without committing any offence and died in prison due to outright negligence of the prison authorities.
The jail superintendent Shankar rejected the allegations.
He said that Kamal had gastric and allergy problems for which he took treatment in the prison hospital.
Besides that, Kamal had no other major health complexities, he added.
Kamal was normal on Tuesday and fell asleep at about 10:30pm. Later he was found unconscious and sent to the hospital.
Bagerhat district BNP former president MA Salam told local journalists that Kamal was politically involved in Khulna city. The police arrested him in a sabotage case after he went to his village home in November.
Bagerhat Sadar Hospital emergency medical officer Faisal Islam said that Kamal was brought dead to the hospital at about 11:15pm. He did not have any injury marks on his body.
His body was handed over to the family on Wednesday afternoon after post-mortem examinations, he added.
The BNP has alleged that the ruling Awami League government has turned the country’s jails into concentration camps.
Referring to the deaths in jail custody, Rizvi on Friday said, ‘BNP leaders and activists are dying one after another in Sheikh Hasina’s prison.’
New Age
