by F R Chowdhury
Recently I read a number of reporting on various newspapers about death of a cadet in the marine academy. We read about lot of speculations such as break-down of discipline in the academy or number of cadets being far in excess the capacity etc. etc. These could be general observations but cannot be directly attributed to a particular death. We heard about the report of an inquiry team established by the ministry of shipping or the department of shipping and then we also heard about statements made by the parents of the cadet. What we did not hear is anything from the appropriate law enforcement authority i.e. police. The question is why?
It is reported that a few cadets went to Academy Lake for swimming or rowing. All the cadets except one returned to cadets’ block. Later the body of the other cadet was recovered from the lake. Obviously it gives rise to many questions which trained and responsible person must investigate. Any unnatural death must be reported to police. Even if it is not reported to them, still police should get involved as soon as they come to know about it. It is their duty to arrange for a post-mortem examination to find the reason for death from medical point of view. Police should also question all persons connected with the incident to find any trace of criminal activity and the motive behind such activity. In some cases police may have to take suspects into custody for further questioning. At the end the police will either charge anyone involved with offence and forward the case to a court of law or close the case with a report of no foul play.
Here in the UK, even if it is a military establishment, any incident of unnatural death shall be reported to local police and there shall be a post-mortem examination followed by coroner’s report. If the report refers to unlawful killing then it takes its normal path of murder trial. The relevant establishment extends full support to the investigation and subsequent judicial process. The only exception is a similar military trial or court martial under military law. No service or establishment is above law.
Departmental inquiry and investigations are a routine matter. They are no substitute for legal and judicial process. They normally look at compliance of system procedures etc. and how these can be further improved to avoid similar accident or incident. Departmental inquiry may even recommend departmental action such as transfer, demotion etc. for negligence or other misconduct. Departmental inquiry shall never charge any criminal to a court. That is done by police. Investigation to find, if any criminality is involved, is the duty of the police.
Having stated above, now comes all the questions. Was the police informed immediately after the incident? If not, why not? Did the parents/ guardians of the cadet file a case? If not, why not? Did the police get involved when they came to know about it? If not, why not.
In the light of the above, I wonder if under Bangladesh laws the Attorney General or the Prosecutor General should ask for necessary explanations from the marine academy as well as the police administrations and start necessary legal proceedings for negligence/ failure of common practice of law.
In this respect I remember another incident when a Bangladeshi ship named “Hope” tilted in bad weather near Malaysia-Thailand coast and the crew abandoned the ship. It is to be noted that all four senior officers of the ship lost their lives. The ship is a floating territory of Bangladesh and it was the responsibility of the police to inquire and see if there was any foul play or other criminal activity or negligence. The survivors should have been interviewed by police at their entry point in Bangladesh or at Chittagong which is the port of registry of the ship. Here again the departmental inquiry shall look into technical matters but police has a responsibility when there is loss of lives. It is time to educate all concerned on these important matters.
<fazlu.chowdhury@btinternet.com>
