Shawdesh desk:

The High Court on Monday asked the government to submit a report to the court today stating the names and ranks of Rapid Action Battalion personnel involved in the arrest and interrogation of a female government employee in Naogaon on March 22.

Sultana Jasmine, an office assistant at Chandipur union parishad land office in Nagaon Sadar, died in Rajshahi Medical College Hospital on March 24 under the custody of the RAB.

A newspaper report was submitted to the High Court by lawyer Manoj Kumar Bhowmick on Monday, seeking action against the battalion members involved in the custodial death.

Lieutenant Colonel Riaz Shahriar, commanding officer of RAB-5, told New Age that based on a  complaint of financial fraud they detained Jasmine, 41, on March 22 and started interrogating her in the microbus as they did not have any camp in Naogaon.

The RAB spokesperson, Commander Khandaker Al Moin, claimed on Monday that while the battalion members were checking her phone she became senseless and was rushed to a hospital in one hour.

RMCH director brigadier general FM Shamim Ahmed told New Age that a team of RAB-5 brought Jasmine to the hospital in critical condition around 9:20pm on Thursday.

‘The patient was unconscious and was immediately rushed to the neurology ward, from where she was transferred to the Intensive Care Unit as her condition continued to deteriorate,’ he said, adding that they performed a CT scan of her and found multiple intracranial bleeds on her head.

‘We found an external bruise on the right side of her head,’ the hospital director said, adding that the law enforcers stated to them at the time of the patient’s admission to the hospital that she had an injury on her head as she became unconscious and fell on the ground during interrogation.

The bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Ahmed Sohel issued the verbal directive suo motu after the lawyer brought the matter to the court.

The court asked lawyer Bhowmick to come up with a writ petition Tuesday over the issue and communicate with Jasmine’s family members if they want to become petitioners.

The court said that it would give further orders Tuesday after getting the report from the government.

The court asked assistant attorney general Abul Kalam Khan Daud to report it Tuesday the names and ranks of the RAB personnel involved in the arrest and interrogation of Jasmine.

The court also asked the government’s attorney to explain why Jasmine was arrested.

The court asked the attorney to submit to it the inquest report and the post-mortem report of Jasmine.

The court, referring to a newspaper report, said that Jasmine’s head bore injuries.

The court observed that it was a matter of examination whether Jasmine was carrying an injury before her arrest.

The court also asked the attorney to explain if the law and the Supreme Court’s guidelines were followed during her arrest and interrogation in custody.

The court, referring to the media report, also observed that the post-mortem report said that Jasmine’s death was ‘unnatural’.

‘If it is true, why a case was not recorded mentioning unnatural death,’ the court asked attorney Daud.

Daud told the court that no case was recorded over Jasmine’s death as her family members did not turn up at the police station.

‘It is the responsibility of the police to record a case after the commission of a crime,’ the court told the government’s attorney.

The court rebuked attorney Daud, stating that the country’s people were looking to the state to see justice.

RAB director (legal and media wing) and spokesperson Moin said that they had already launched an inquiry into the reported incident and would submit necessary documents to the court as demanded.

He said that the arrest was made as their team was investigating a complaint over cheating in the name of a joint secretary.

During the investigation, the RAB spokesman said that their team spotted the woman by tracking her phone at about 10:30am.

The RAB official said that they found unusual transactions in her account.

He claimed that they detained Jesmine following proper procedures and informed her higher authorities about her alleged involvement in the fraud.

‘We found several screenshots of transactions of Tk 19 lakh on her mobile phone and her involvement in fraud,’ Moin said.

‘At one stage of interrogation of this matter, she became ill and started vomiting. Later, we rushed her to Naogaon Sadar Hospital from where she was referred to RMCH, where she died of a stroke,’ he said.

Nazmul Haque Montu, maternal uncle of the deceased and also a former councillor of Naogaon municipality, told New Age that members of RAB-5 in a white microbus picked up her niece from Muktir Mor area in the municipality at 10:00am on March 22 while she was heading towards her office.

‘We had been looking for her in various RAB camps since but failed to locate her. Later, we came to know that she was undergoing treatment at Naogaon Sadar Hospital,’ he said, adding that they found RAB members at the hospital with her niece, who could not talk with them.

Nazmul said that the RAB members told them that her niece had suffered a stroke. ‘But she was young and in perfect health. I could not understand why she would have a stroke in RAB custody,’ he added.

Nazmul also said that they would take legal action in this regard after obtaining the autopsy report.

Ruhul Amin, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Rajpara Police Station, told New Age that Enamul Haque, the local government director of the Rajshahi divisional commissioner’s office, filed a case against Jasmine under the Digital Security Act at 5:10pm on Thursday for siphoning money from job seekers using a Facebook account.

Enamul was not available for his comment despite repeated attempts over the phone.