A three-member committee formed over police excesses at Shahbagh that damaged college student Siddiqur Rahman’s eyes submitted its probe report on Monday recommending departmental action against seven cops and claiming that it failed to identify the cop who shot tear-gas shell at Siddiqur from close range.
‘We have collected the statements of witnesses, cops and physicians [of the victim] but it could not be determined who exactly had fired the tear-gas shell targeting him [Siddiqur],’ one of the committee members told New Age.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police acting commissioner Shahbuddin Koreshi, after receiving the probe report, declined to comment on the contents of the report.
He said that they would not disclose the names of the cops against whom departmental actions were recom
mended at the moment but departmental proceedings would be decided after scrutiny of the evidences and consultation in presence of the commissioner.
Metropolitan police commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah would return on August 9 from China, officials said.
According to media reports, Shahbagh police station inspector (investigation) Abu Zafar Ali Biswah and inspector (operations) Abul Kalam Azad were among the seven cops.
Abu Zafar, however, told New Age that he tried but failed to ascertain wheter his name was on the list.
He claimed that he was not in the location where police used gas-guns against the protesting students.
‘I was with a small group and maintaining order near TSC area,’ Zafar claimed, adding, ‘I am not sure where inspector Azad was posted.’
Inspector Abul Kalam Azad could not be reached despite repeated attempts.
The police reportedly identified five constables from public order management division. Their names could not be ascertained.
A committee member said that they found few cops fired used tear-gas shells and ‘none of them admitted who had injured Siddiqur.’
Siddiqur sustained critical injuries in the eyes as, according to video footage, a cop fired a tear-gas shell directly at his face from close range during protests of students of seven colleges affiliated with Dhaka University at Shahbagh on July 20 for exam schedule.
The police, however, in the first information report, claimed that Siddiqur was injured as a flower tub thrown by students crushed into his face.
Assuring further investigation into the incident, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan regretted as Siddiqur’s eyes were damaged in the police action. The government had arranged his treatment and engaged DMP joint commissioner Mir Rezaul Alam and two others to find their colleagues who did excess in action.
Source: New Age
