Police cannot avoid responsibility if accused dies in their custody: DMP chief

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mohammad Shafiqul Islam has said police cannot avoid responsibility if an accused dies while s/he is in their custody.

He made the statement while talking to reporters after Bangladesh Police Service Association paid tributes to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's portrait in the capital's Dhanmondi area on Monday.

Shafiqul said: "Initially, police reported to me that the accused committed suicide. However, we are investigating the incident." 

But even if he has committed suicide, police cannot avoid responsibility for the death, he added.

Pointing out that a three-member committee has been formed to probe the incident, he avowed that punitive action will be taken against any officials who will be found responsible or guilty of negligence of duty.

Meanwhile, Professor Dr Sohel Mahmud, chairman of Forensic Department at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital told the media that they found several injury marks on the body of the deceased. 

"We have found injuries on head and legs which indicate that he had been wounded by a heavy metal or anything like that," he added. 

On Sunday, a floor in-charge of the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation Abu Bakar Siddique Babu (45) died in the custody of Tejgaon Industrial Area police station.