Ex-ASP held over ‘enforced disappearance’ of ICT witness

A Dhaka court yesterday sent a former assistant superintendent of police to jail in a case over the alleged enforced disappearance of Sukhranjan Bali, a prosecution witness in the crimes against humanity trial of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mahbub Alam passed the order following the arrest of ex-ASP Fazlur Rahman on Thursday night.

Tap Here to Add The Daily Star As A Trusted Source

At a press conference in the Detective Branch office yesterday, its chief Md Shafiqul Islam said Fazlur, who was working with the DB when the incident took place in November 2012, was directly involved.

Bali went missing on November 5 that year, while travelling to the tribunal with then defence counsel Mizanul Islam. According to his complaint, plainclothes men and police officers intercepted the vehicle near the ICT gate and forcibly took him away.

Initially listed as a prosecution witness, Bali later decided to testify for the defence, claiming that Sayedee was innocent. He alleged that he was abducted while on his way to give that testimony.

Last year, Bali filed a complaint with the International Crimes Tribunal chief prosecutor, accusing ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 31 others of attempting to coerce him into giving false testimony in the case against Sayedee.

In the complaint, Bali alleged that he was abducted, tortured, and secretly detained because he refused to falsely implicate Sayedee. He claimed that he was held in a dark room for nearly two months, where he was subjected to severe physical and psychological torture, including electric shocks, in an attempt to force a confession.

Bali also alleged that he was later handed over to India’s Border Security Force, where he was again tortured before being held at a sub-jail in Basirhat for 22 days. He claimed that he was subsequently moved to Dum Dum Central Jail, where he remained in custody for about five years.