Two police personnel on Saturday were suspended in connection with the alleged incident of ‘committing suicide’ by a government employee in police custody on early Friday in Sylhet.
The suspended are the district’s Jaintapur police sub-inspector Zaynal Abedin and constable Akhtar Hossain, the police said.
Nazrul Islam Babu, 32, a Class IV employee of Jaintapur Upazila Administration office and son of the late freedom fighter Abdul Zalil of village Kohaigar under the upazila, found dead in a detention cell hours after he was arrested in a torture case, the police said.
When contacted, Jaintapur police officer-in-charge (investigation) Anwar Zahid confirmed New Age of the suspension order against the two police personnel and said they were also closed to the district police lines after suspending them for their negligence in discharging duty.
‘SI Zaynal was on-duty officer of the police station while constable Akhtar was on duty in front of the detention cell when Babu committed suicide inside the cell,’ Anwar said.
On the other hand, local peoples under the banner of Muktijoddha Santan Command, a forum of the children of freedom fighters, on Saturday afternoon gave a 72-hour ultimatum to the administration for removal of the Jaintapur police officer-in-charge, Safiul Kabir, for his failure to ensure security of a detainee inside the police station.
They issued the ultimatum from a rally held in front of the police station at about 5:30pm on Saturday to protest at the alleged suicide of Babu.
MSC Jaintapur upazila convener Altaf Hossain and its general secretary Shamim Ahmad, among others, addressed the rally.
Earlier, they also kept the Sylhet-Tamabil Highway blocked in the area from 2:30pm to 5:15pm to protest at the incident and demand exemplary punishment to the police personnel responsible for death of Babu.
Jaintapur police arrested Babu at around 1:30am on Friday in connection with a case filed against him by his wife over torture allegations.
He was found hanged in the detention cell at about 5:00am.
Relatives of Babu, however, alleged that Babu died of police torture.