A case has been filed against 16 people, including Senior Jail Superintendent Muhammad Manjur Hossain in connection with the unusual death of an inmate in Chattogram Central Jail on 5 February.
Puravi Palit, the wife of deceased inmate Rubel Dey, filed the case at Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court on Tuesday (20 February).
“On 4 February, a judicial magistrate court ordered the jail superintendent to take immediate measures for the better treatment of Rubel Dey, 38; he died unexpectedly at night. The jail superintendent cannot avoid responsibility because Rubel was perfectly fine in police custody,” said the plaintiff's lawyer Ajay Dhar.
“The case has been filed under Section 15(2) of the Torture and Custodial Death Act, 2013. The learned court will scrutinise the submission of the application and give a date for the next hearing,” he added.
According to the case statement, Rubel Dey was arrested without any reason from his house in Dakshin Jaishtyapura of Boalkhali Upazila on January 27 at around 3pm on 27 January. That day at around 9pm, the police called and demanded a bribe of Tk2 lakh from Rubel Dey's family to let him go free and threatened to file a false drug case against him if the money was not paid.
When Rubel's family refused to pay so much money, a case was filed against him at Boalkhali police station. He was handed over to the court the next day. When the court ordered Rubel to be sent to jail, he was sent to Chattohram Central Jail, the case statement added.
On 2 February, Rubel's family went to the prison to meet him. Rubel was carried in a wheelchair and guarded by four prison guards. Rubel had injury marks on his body and was kind of unconscious. When the family asked the guards about his condition, they did not reply, the statement further said.
Following this, on 4 February, Rubel’s lawyer filed a petition in Judicial Magistrate Court No. 6 to issue an order to the Jail Superintendent to take better treatment after informing him of his adverse physical condition.
The court allowed the application and directed the jail superintendent to inform the court and take action as per the rules.
The next day at 8am, Rubel's wife Puravi Palit was informed that her husband had died and the body was in the Chittagong Medical College and Hospital morgue.
Rubel's family then went to the morgue and found him dead.
"He [Rubel] complained of chest pain at night and we took him to the prison hospital," Senior Jail Superintendent Muhammad Manjur Hossain had said following the inmate’s death.
