Dear friends,
The Asian Human rights Commission (AHRC) has received information regarding the alleged wrongful arrest and brutal torture of an innocent sales clerk named Md. Munsur Ali who was detained by police at RN Road in Jessore on 30 January 2007. The victim was allegedly arrested under the orders of Sub Inspector Habibur Rahman of the Kaligong Police Station, Jhinaidah after he was mistakenly identified as a criminal who has a similar name. The police have also allegedly demanded a bribe from the victim’s employer to clear the young man’s reputation.
CASE DETAILS:
At around 11:00 am on 30 January 2007, members of the Kaligong police station arrested Mr. Md. Munsur Ali from his work after he was mistakenly identified as a wanted criminal. The victim was then taken into custody where he was allegedly tortured.
The arrest occurred after police arrested two thieves who had stolen a shallow engine and two private cars. During their interrogation, the men admitted that another man was involved with the crime whose name is Munsur. The police then proceed to arrest the victim assuming that he was the thief identified by the criminals. However, Md. Munsur Ali is not the same man and has become a victim of mistaken identity.
The AHRC has learned that although the victim’s name is Munsur, his father is Fazle Karim and he lives in village Sujulpur of Jessore District. However, the wanted criminal’s father’s name is Amjad Sana and allegedly lives in Jmjani village, Monirampur police station, Jessore District.
Despite the evidence and several statements in support of the victim’s true identity, the police have allegedly tortured him and further demanded a bribe from the victim’s employer to clear the young man’s name.
The victim’s family has launched several protests. His father stated “I am a poor man. My son is in quite nature boy. He was never involved in any kind of criminal activities. Moreover, he works in a shop of Rashid. Not only him but also in my family there is no any case in previous time. Police has arrested and send to the jail custody of my son only to harass him. I want exemplary punishment of the alleged policeman.”
The victim’s mother argued “My son is honest person. He never took any thins without permission in previous time. Police detained him and implicated a false stolen case and tortured brutally. They did not justify about the allegation. My innocent son is in jail custody without any reason.”
Md. Munsur Ali’s employer Mr. Md. Owazed Ali stated, “Munsur is sells man of my shop. He is in my shop in a long time. Never I saw or herded him to steal. I see him as my brother. S I habibur of Kaligong police station has arrested him from my shop with three shallow engine. I saw them the buying voucher of that engine but the police took him with engine without justification. SI took illegal money as bribe to leave up him. Real thief Munsur and My sells man Munsur is not same person. Police tortured him without justification. Now the SI is demanding bribe from me to give final report in favor him”.
The AHRC condemns the illegal arrest and torture of the victim. The AHRC also deplores the alleged bribery demand by the police to clear the young man’s name. The AHRC request that the victim be fully compensated for any trauma he has suffered at the hands of his torturers. The AHRC also demands that the victim be compensated for any character defamation he has suffered as a consequence of mistaken identity as a result of inadequate policing.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write the relevant Bangladeshi authorities and demand justice for this victim. Please ask them to fully compensate the victim and his family and demand that he be released from custody immediately.
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear __________,
BANGLADESH: Mistaken identify leads to the illegal detention and torture of an innocent salesman
Name of the victim: Md. Munsur Ali
Name of alleged perpetrators: Habibur Rahman, Sub Inspector, Kaligong Police Station, Jhinaidah
Place of incident: RN Road, Jessore, Bangladesh
Date of incident: 30 January 2007
I am writing to voice my concern over the alleged illegal detention and torture of an innocent salesman named Md. Munsur Ali from RN Road, Jessore on 30 January 2007. Mr Munsur is the victim of mistaken identity and the police have yet to release the victim or be held accountable for their careless actions.
According to the information I have received, at 11:00 am on 30 January 2007, members of the Kaligong police station arrested Mr. Md. Munsur Ali from his work after he was mistakenly identified as a wanted criminal. The victim was then taken into custody where he was allegedly tortured.
I also know that the illegal arrest occurred after police arrested two thieves who had stolen a shallow engine and two private cars. During their interrogation, the men admitted that another man was involved with the crime whose name is Munsur. The police then proceed to arrest the victim assuming that he was the thief identified by the criminals. However, Md. Munsur Ali is not the same man and has become a victim of mistaken identity.
I understand that although the victim’s name is Munsur, his father is Fazle Karim and he lives in village Sujulpur of the District Jessore. However, the wanted criminal’s father’s name is Amjad Sana and allegedly lives in village Jmjani of police station Monirampur of the District Jessore.
Despite the evidence and several statements in support of the victim’s true identity, the police have tortured him and demanded a bribe from the victim’s employer to clear the young man’s name.
In light of all this, I ask that you investigate into the alleged attempted bribery and punish those found involved. I also ask Finally, I ask that you publicly clear the victim’s name so that he may regain his reputation. Full compensation should be awarded to the victim for any trauma that his has suffered at the hands of his torturers.
Yours sincerely,
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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed
Chief Adviser
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Office of the Chief Advisor
Tejgaon, Dhaka
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 8828160-79, 9888677
Fax: +880 2 8113244 or 3243 or 1015 or 1490
2. Barrister Mr. Fida M Kamal
Attorney General of Bangladesh
Office of the Attorney General
Supreme Court Building
Ramna, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 9562868
Fax: +880 2 9561568
3. Mr. Nur Mohammad
Inspector General of Police (IGP)
Bangladesh Police
Police Headquarters’
Fulbaria, Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +880 2 9562054 or 7176451 or 7176677
Fax: +880 2 9563362 or 9563363
4. Barrister Moinul Hossain
Adviser
Ministry of Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs
Bangladesh Secretariat
Dhaka-1000
BANGLADESH
Tel: +88-02-7160627 (O)
Fax: +88-02-7168557 (O)
5. Professor Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Mr. Safir Syed
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 9179016 (general)
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
