Following the killing of Maj (retd) Sinha Rashed Khan in police firing, several policemen took Sinha’s associate Shahedul Islam Sifat to Teknaf Police Station and put pressure on him to give deposition in their favour.

Sifat said this yesterday while giving deposition to the Cox’s Bazar District and Sessions Judge’s Court for the second consecutive day, according to court sources.

After the deposition, the defence lawyers cross-examined Sifat, who was present on the spot when the killing took place at a check point on the Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf highway on July 31, last year.

Earlier on Tuesday, Sifat told the court in his deposition that police inspector Liaqat Ali shot Maj (retd) Sinha dead. Later, Pradeep Kumar Das, suspended officer-in-charge of Teknaf Police Station, rushed to the spot and confirmed Sinha’s death.

The court yesterday observed that the police personnel who were on duty at the courtroom showed “utter negligence” as Pradeep, the prime accused in the murder case, was allowed to talk over phone during Tuesday’s proceedings.

According to media reports, Pradeep was talking over phone on Tuesday when defence lawyers were cross-examining the complainant, Sharmin Shahriar Ferdous, sister of the victim.

Yesterday, the court rebuked Pradeep and warned him. It ordered the police personnel and lawyers from both sides to be cautious in the future.

All 15 accused in the case were present at the courtroom yesterday, said court sources.

Following the court proceedings, the defence lawyers talked to the media and voiced concern that their clients might not get justice.

Earlier on Monday, the court started recording depositions of witnesses in the case. On the first day, the complainant gave her deposition.

The names of 83 witnesses have been mentioned in the charge-sheet of the case.

The court already summoned 15 of them to give depositions between August 23 and August 25. It recorded statements of two witnesses till yesterday.

In the next phase, the court will record statements of the other witnesses from September 5 to 8, said Assistant Public Prosecutor Ziauddin Ahmed.

The court framed charges against the 15 accused on June 27.

Of them, 12 are policemen, including Pradeep, Liaqat, sub-inspector Md Shahjahan and assistant sub-inspector Liton Mia.

Yesterday, Liaqat’s lawyer claimed at the court that his client did not sign a confessional statement under section 164 in the case.

On August 30 last year, the investigation officer in the case, senior assistant superintendent of police Khairul Islam of Rab in Cox’s Bazar, told reporters that Liaqat gave a confessional statement under section 164 of the code of criminal procedure before the Senior Judicial Magistrate’s Court-4 in the district.

The investigators submitted the charge sheet of the case against the 15 on December 13 last year, about five months after Sinha was killed.

3 COPS WITHDRAWN

Three police personnel were withdrawn and attached to the district police lines over Pradeep’s phone conversation during court proceedings.

Cox’s Bazar Superintendent of Police Mohammad Hasanuzzaman confirmed this to The Daily Star yesterday.

A three-member probe committee led by Additional SP Pankaj Barua has been formed to investigate the incident, said the SP.

Departmental action will be taken against those found guilty of negligence in duty, he added.