Murder witness dies in custody

Nor can there be too much doubt that the death of Sumon had political overtones. Sumon was a key witness to the sensational murder of Ahsanullah Master on May 7, and had appeared before a magistrate and identified some Jubo Dal leaders as being involved in the killing. Sumon was under threat and pressure; in fact, put on notice by interested quarters to refrain from canvassing in any form against the ruling party candidate or else face dire consequences. In the latest incident, some people reportedly complained of his involvement with extortion which apparently prompted Rab to take him into custody. The question is: if it was clearly a case of extortion as claimed by Rab in which the latter had laid a trap for him to be caught, why would he need to be interrogated and tortured? He could be legally dealt with as an extortionist. Since this was not done, we are inclined to think that the family version to the effect that he was picked up from home is acceptable.

This tragedy should send shivers down the spine of any sentient person. If someone who had witnessed a crime can be, by all appearances, tortured to death in custody then what does this say about justice in this country? This is not the first time that a special drive is tainted by excesses but it certainly is a pointer to how soon the lessons of Operation Clean Heart have been unlearned. We have clearly crossed some kind of threshold.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

The by-election to the Gazipur-2 seat vacated by Master's death is coming up. Would one be wrong to suggest that the killing of Sumon might have had to do with the removal of a key witness who had identified the killers?