Himu's Window

The family of Sultana Jasmine, who died in Rab custody, said they would not go for any legal move seeking justice. Her son or her sisters or brothers would not speak about the incident in public or talk to the press for at least six months, said Sultana's maternal uncle Nazmul Haque Montu yesterday. "We didn't file any case and we don't want to lodge any." Sultana, an office assistant of Naogaon's Chandipur union land office, died in the custody of Rab on March 24, two days after she was detained when she was on her way to work. Her death triggered criticism from human rights groups and the High Court questioned under what authority Rab detained her when she was not accused in any case. Meanwhile, Rab headquarters' enquiry cell yesterday called in 11 officials of Rab-5 to the battalion headquarters from its Joypurhat camp for questioning. The officials include a major and an assistant superintendent of police, said Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of...

Rab arrested on Tuesday the principal accused of the Digital Security Act case that was filed in Rajshahi after the arrest of Naogaon land office employee Sultana Jasmine. Al Amin, 32, of Chandpur was arrested at the capital's Shahjahanpur, according to a press statement issued today by Farzana Haque, staff officer (media) of Rab-3, reports our Rajshahi correspondent. Sultana, a union-level land office employee, was detained on her way to the office in Naogaon town by a patrol team of Rab-5 on March 22. She died in Rab custody at the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital two days later. On March 23, when Sultana was fighting for her life at the RMCH, Enamul Haque, director of local government at the office of Rajshahi divisional commissioner filed the case with Rajpara Police Station in Rajshahi city. In his case, Enamul accused Al Amin, Sultana, and three other unnamed people of using his hacked Facebook to con people by offering them jobs. Since the filing of the case, Rab members ha...

Sultana Jasmine's house in the calm and quiet Chalkdeb Janakalyanpara area of Naogaon town was under watch by a group of unidentified men for about two weeks prior to her arrest, said her landlord. The group of three to five people used to sit on a concrete bench in front of his three-storey house and chit-chat until midnight, said landlord Delwar Hossain Dulal. Sultana, a union-level land office employee in Naogaon, who died in the custody of Rab on Friday, used to live in one of the 650sqft flats on the second floor for a rent of Tk 4,200. Her death triggered a barrage of criticism from human rights groups and the High Court yesterday questioned under what authority Rab picked her up since she was not accused in any case at the time of her detention. "It was an annoyance in our area when some three to five young men started staying in front of my house at night," said Dulal who lives on the ground floor. Around 11:00pm one day, the men knocked at Dulal's door and s...

Sultana Jasmine, a union-level land employee in Naogaon who died in the custody of Rapid Action Battalion on Friday, had suffered a head injury along with brain haemorrhages but what caused it all remains unexplained. Forensic doctors at Rajshahi Medical College (RMC) conducted an autopsy a day after her death that triggered a barrage of criticism from human rights groups with the High Court asking questions. "Sultana Jasmine suffered an injury to her head apart from haemorrhages in her brain," said Associate Prof Kafil Uddin, who led a three-member board formed to conduct the autopsy. The team sent her heart sample to RMC's pathology department for a histopathological report. "We will know the ultimate cause of her death after the report is available," added Kafil Uddin, head of forensic medicine department at the college. Sultana, 38, an office assistant of Naogaon Municipality-Chandipur Union Land Office, was picked up by a Rab-5 patrol team on Wednesday wh...

An employee of a Naogaon union land office who stood accused in a case under the Digital Security Act died in the custody of Rab-5 after suffering haemorrhages of the brain. Rab officers told doctors Sultana Jasmine, 38, suffered a fall. Her son Shahed Hossain Saikat, a student of Chattogram University, said, "She died due to torture in Rab custody. She has a mark of injury on her head." Family members said she was in perfect health. Rab picked up Sultana around 10:00am on Wednesday (March 22) when she was on her way to Chandipur Union Land Office where she was an office assistant, law enforcers said. She died at 10:00am on Friday (March 24) at the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH). A day after her detention, she was sued under DSA in Rajshahi "for syphoning off money from job seekers using a Facebook account". Faisal bin Ahsan, officer-in-charge of Naogaon Sadar Police Station, told The Daily Star that Rab did not inform police about the arrest and they lea...

Trades of Binodpur Bazar near Rajshahi University are at a loss after their shops were burnt to the ground on Saturday and they have no way of getting compensation. "I have not been able to sleep a wink since the night my store was destroyed in the arson attack," said 52-year-old Zahangir Alam, whose store was among those burned down in the clash near the Rajshahi University campus on Saturday. Alam his brother Zafar Ali used to run their business but since his brother's death in May last year, Zahangir was forced to become the lone breadwinner for an extended family of 14. Over 220 people were injured after students of Rajshahi University fought running battles with locals and police in Binodpur area near the campus on Saturday evening over trifles. Zahangir suffered a loss of Tk 7 lakh including Tk 3.5 lakh in cash from his mobile banking business that he operated from the store, which was burnt and looted during the arson attack. "I had to watch as the attackers d...

Zahangir Alam has been passing sleepless nights since his varieties store was torched during Saturday's clashes between Rajshahi University students and locals in Binodpur Bazar area. The clashes created a two-day deadlock at the campus and left some 200 persons injured. "I'm losing sleep at night thinking about how to survive and recover from the losses that I have suffered," the 52-year-old Alam said. Alam used to run his store with his brother Zafar Ali. Since his brother died in May last year, he became the lone bread-earner for an extended family of 14 members. The fire and looters cost him a total of Tk 7 lakh, including Tk 3.5 lakh in cash that was in his shop for mobile financial services. "I had to watch helplessly as arsonists torched my shop after looting the stored items in sacks. I could do nothing," he said. Alam had borrowed Tk 3 lakh from a bank and Tk 2.5 lakh from a micro-credit lending organisation for his business. "I bought goods fo...