Compensation case of Tk5cr filed against SP Ziaul

Zakir Hossain Chowdhury, a businessman from Gopalganj, has filed a case seeking compensation of Tk5 crore from Dhaka Range superintendent of police (SP) (training and media) Ziaul Haque.

The case was filed at the court of Dhaka's First Joint District Judge Utpal Bhattacharya on Tuesday.

The court asked SP Ziaul Haque to reply on October 15, asking why he would not be instructed to pay the compensation.

Zakir Hossain Chowdhury, son of Habibur Rahman of Gobra area under Gopalganj Sadar Police Station, alleged in the case that his brother Bachchu Hossain used to work at a bakery in Gopalganj. Gopalganj Sadar Police Station officer-in-charge Monirul Islam, sub-inspector (SI) Golam Kibria and source Prabal Biswas used to visit the shop often and leave the shop without paying after taking something.

One day, SI Golam Kibria and source Prabal Biswas came by and wanted to have coffee. Bachchu Hossain expressed his inability to provide coffee as the water was not hot. Then, they treated him badly and threatened consequences.

According to the complaint, on May 7 last year, Prabal Biswas left after drinking tea at victim Bachchu's shop. Shortly afterwards, he returned and told Bachchu that he had left a bag inside the shop, containing Tk1.65 lakh. Bachchu said he did not have the bag.

Later, SI Golam Kibria took Bachchu to the police station, beat him severely and released him with a signature on a white paper. After leaving the police station, Bachchu Hossain was treated at Gopalganj Sadar Hospital. 

After he was released from the hospital on May 18, he appealed to the police headquarters seeking justice.

The investigation was assigned to SP Ziaul Haque who summoned Bachchu for questioning on June 13 and July 22 last year, but Bachchu could not go because he was ill. When he recovered, he went to SP Ziaul Haque but the SPcould not meet him that day.

The complaint further said Bachchu Hossain had asked for a time for a later meeting, but this was not taken into account. Later, Ziaul Haque submitted an investigation report saying that the allegations were not true.

The plaintiff alleges that the victim's family was deprived of justice with the report. He continued,  "The report has not only defended the culprits but also severely damaged the reputation of the plaintiff, which he [the SP] has no right to do. His statement in the report is defamatory. The plaintiff has suffered irreparable personal and commercial damage."

Meanwhile, a police source in Gopalganj filed a case against Bachchu and his wife Sahida after they had lodged a complaint with the police.

SP Ziaul Haque was called several times to talk about the case but did not answer the phone. An SMS was sent but no reply was received.