BANGLADESH: Two people killed and thirty-five injured by police fire in Chapainawabganj district 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed by Task Force against Torture (TFT) of the Rajshahi district that two persons were killed by police fire in the Chapainawabganj district. The policemen were guarding the office of the rural electrification centre (Palli Biddut Kendra) while around 10,000 consumers were demanding regular uninterrupted electricity supply and a reduction of the consumption rate. Without notice the police fired on the crowd, killing two and causing serious injury to at least 35 others, who are now struggling to survive in hospitals without appropriate medical treatment. The families of the deceased persons have neither received compensation nor been assured that any will be forthcoming.

The AHRC has also learnt that the police and the office staff of the Palli Biddut Kendra tortured bullet-wounded victims, after taking them into the office compound. The perpetrators did not allow the victims to receive medical treatment.  The remaining victims are in now fear of harassment by police following two cases having been filed against them with the Shibganj police.

The AHRC is calling upon you to write letters to the relevant authorities in Bangladesh, in particular the Inspector General of Police and the Ministry of Home Affairs, urging them to take immediate disciplinary and legal action against the electricity authority and the errant policemen of Chapainawabganj district. The necessary reparations for the family of the victims must be met.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission
…………………………………
DETAILED INFORMATION:

Name of the victims (killed):
1. Nayan Karmokar (24), son of Mr. Bishwanath Karmakar, living in Chawkkirti village under Shibganj police station in Chapainawabganj district
2. Abul Kashem Kajol (35), son of Mr. Osman Ali, living in Kanshat Abbas Bazar village under Shibganj police station in Chapainawabganj district
Name of the victims (injured):
1. Alam (35), living in Hazarbighi village
2. Benozir (25), living in Hazarbighi village
3. Felu (14), living in Chawkkirti village
4. Moinul (30), living in Kanshat village
5. Shahjahan (20), living in Dhobra village
6. Kazem, living in Dhobra village
7. Babu, living in Laughata Chawkkirti village
8. Monirul, living in Khaserhat village
9. Belal, living in Kanshat Bahalabari village
10. Rony (13), living in Barorashia village
11. Muslim, living in Pukhuria village
12. Razen, living in Pukhuria village
13. Uzzal Sing, living in Pukhuria village
14. Jamaluddin, living in Terorashia village
15. Harun Babu (20), living in Shibganj village
16. Yunus, living in Nakkatitola village
17. Kalam, living in police line area;
All the villages are under the Shibganj police station in Chapainwabganj district
Name of the alleged perpetrators:
1. Khalekuzzaman, General Manager of the Chapainawabganj Rural Electrification Centre, Shibganj police station, Chapainawabganj
2. Nasiruddin, Assistant General Manager of the Chapainawabganj Rural Electrification Centre, Shibganj police station, Chapainawabganj
3. Rafikul Islam, Upazilla Nirbahi Officer (UNO), Shibganj, Chapainawabganj
4. Policemen attached to the Chapainawabganj district
Date of incident: 4 January 2006
Place of incident: In front of the Chapainawabganj Rural Electrification Centre, at Kanshat Bazar under Shibganj police station, Chapainawabganj

Case details:

On 4 January 2006, at about 5.00pm, at least 10,000 people from different corners of the Shibganj upazilla under the banner of the Palli Biddut Shangram Parishad (Rural Electricity Movement Association) participated in a pre-declared procession demanding, amongst other things, uninterrupted electricity supply and the withdrawal of electric meter rent, to the Palli Biddut Kendra (Rural Electricity Centre) at Kanshat under Shibganj police station in Chapainawabganj district. The demonstrators were moving toward the office of the Palli Biddut Kendra to observe their ‘gherao’ (encircle) programme in front of the office. The police, who were called there to guard the office, barricaded the procession on the Chapainawabganj to Sona Masjid highway nearby the Palli Biddut office. The demonstrators became agitated facing the hindrance by the police. They started throwing brickbats at the police. Some policemen, including the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Shibganj police station, Mr. Sahabudding Khalifa, were injured. The police then opened fire on the demonstrators. Several of the demonstrators were shot. Others tried to flee to save their lives. The police and the staff of the Palli Biddut Kendra dragged several of the wounded inside the campus of the Palli Biddut Kendra. There they beat the victims with bamboo sticks and kicked them, denying them any medical treatment for several hours. Due to their detention by the police and staff, Nayan Karmokar and Abul Kashem Kajol succumbed to their injuries.

Observing the brutality of the victims by the police and the staff of the Palli Biddut Kendra from far outside the campus, the demonstrators became agitated once more. By this time the administrative authorities were informed about the incident. They deployed a few platoon armed police, the Bangladesh Rifles’ (BDR) and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) to take control of the situation. The demonstrators threw brickbats at the law enforcers and demanded medical treatment and hospitalisation for the severely wounded. A rescue team finally came and took the victims to the Shibganj (Health Complex) hospital. The doctors of the hospital referred 35 injured victims to the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH).

To date, two cases have been filed against the demonstrators. The AGM of the Shibganj Palli Biddut Kendra, Mr. S M Nasir Uddin lodged a case with the Shibganj police station against more than 100 people, including the leader of the demonstration, Mr. Golam Rabbani. The Shibganj police have also filed a case against the same people. In neither case has the issue of the police shooting been raised. No separate case has been filed regarding the death of the two persons.
The victims and the villagers are now living in fear as a result of the two cases filed by the Palli Biddut official and the police. A one-member ‘Executive Probe Committee’ has been created by the government headed by the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) of Chapainawabganj district, Mr. Abdur Rahim to investigate the incident and submit a report as early as possible.

Meanwhile, the wounded victims are struggling to obtain medical treatment due to financial hardship. All the victims are unattended to in hospital despite requiring urgent medical treatment. The families of the deceased persons have not yet received any compensation from the government authority. They alleged that, when the post mortem was done, the police forced both of the families of the deceased persons to conduct the funerals for the dead in the presence of the police on the same night, despite repeated requests from the relatives not to. The relatives were not allowed to view the bodies.

The demonstrators explained that they were bound to protest against the Palli Biddut authority, who are unlawfully receiving Taka 250,00,000 per year from 56,000 consumers as meter rent. They also allege that they could not irrigate properly due to insufficient and irregular electricity supply, which resulted in big losses to their cultivation and businesses, despite paying a high rate of consumption charges for the electricity. They demanded the withdrawal and exemplary punishment of the officials involved with the killing and attacking of unarmed people.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please send a letter immediately to the Inspector General of Police and the other persons listed below expressing your concern about the extra judicial killing of two persons urging them to take prompt action to investigate the conduct of the electricity authority and the police and to ensure that justice is attained for the families of the victims.