HC asks police to explain details

The High Court on Sunday asked the police to explain in four weeks why they should not be directed to disclose the details of the law enforcement personnel who had arrested Supreme Court lawyer MU Ahmed on August 11.

A bench of Justice Farid Ahmed and Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif also asked the police to explain in what circumstances Ahmed, now under treatment at Square Hospital, was admitted to the hospital after his arrest.

The court also directed the government to ensure Ahmed's better medical treatment at its cost at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital or any other public hospital.

It also asked the government to explain why it should not be directed to send Ahmed abroad for better treatment.

Secretaries of the home and the health ministries, the principal secretary to the prime minister, the inspector general of police, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Detective Branch deputy Commissioner, Dhaka Medical College Hospital principal, managing director of Square Hospital and director of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases were asked to answer the rule.

The court passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by Ahmed's wife Selin Ahmed challenging police action against her husband.

She also sought a direction on the government to send him abroad for treatment.

Ahmed was admitted to the NICVD on August 11 following a massive cardiac attack he had suffered after the Detective Branch of Police arrested him earlier in the day on the charge of assaulting the police and obstructing them from performing their duty in the Supreme Court on August 2.

His family said he fell sick following severe torture in police custody after his arrest.

The police, however, said he was shifted to the hospital with cardiac complications.

Appearing for the petitioner, Supreme Court lawyer and Supreme Court Bar Association president Khandker Mahbub Hossain submitted that Ahmed was in good health at the time of his arrest.

He said Ahmed suffered the heart attack due to torture in custody following his arrest from his Segunbagicha residence.

Khandker Mahbub told the court that 10 to 15 plainclothes police had entered into Ahmed's residence at about 2 AM, ransacked the house and hurled abusive words at him before arresting him.

Ahmed, a former assistant attorney general was taken to the Detective Branch Office in the city and was kept there for more than four hours, said Mahbub.

According to him, Ahmed was first taken to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital in a critical condition.

But, he said, the DMCH refused to admit him and instead advised the police to take him to the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases.

Source : New Age

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