The mother of Maruf Hossain Dukhu Mia, who was fatally shot during an anti-drug operation in Dhaka’s Dhalpur, has alleged that police drafted her complaint without her input, took her thumb impression and withheld a copy of the First Information Report (FIR).
Selina Begum also rejected the Special Response Battalion’s (SRB) claim that its members had fired only blank rounds during Tuesday’s operation in Jatrabari.
“If they had been blank rounds, my son would not have died. Those were not blank rounds. They were live bullets,” she told TIMES.
Selina alleged that police initially refused to cooperate when she went to Jatrabari Police Station to file a case on Wednesday.
She said officers kept her waiting from noon until 4:30pm, questioning her on various matters before typing the FIR on a computer and taking her thumb impression.
When she asked for a copy, officers said it could not be provided until the investigation was complete.
Jatrabari Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mohammad Raju did not answer repeated calls seeking comment.
ASM Nasir Uddin Elan, director of human rights organisation Odhikar, questioned the refusal to provide the documents.
“Since the police did not provide the case documents, there must certainly be some problem here. The complainant’s side can now hold a press conference to clarify the matter,” he told TIMES.
Neither of the two FIRs submitted by the SRB, formerly Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), to Jatrabari Police Station on Wednesday mention Maruf’s death.
The force claimed its members fired five blank rounds during the operation.
The FIRs instead describe drug seizures, attacks on law enforcement personnel, attempts to snatch their weapons and the firing of blank rounds.
Corporal Badruddoza of the SRB-10 Lalbagh camp, who filed one of the cases, suggested Maruf might have been shot by others.
“Maruf may have died from shots fired by miscreants. That is why Maruf’s death was not mentioned in the SRB’s case,” he told TIMES.
However, witnesses and Maruf’s family alleged that plainclothes SRB members fired indiscriminately.
His elder sister, Roksana Begum, said 10 to 12 plainclothes SRB members detained several residents during the operation and took their mobile phones and money.
She alleged that the detainees beat the plainclothes personnel because they did not recognise them as law enforcement officers.
“After that, the SRB members fired indiscriminately. The detained people then started running in different directions. Hearing the gunshots, my younger brother went out to see what was happening. That was when he was hit by a bullet,” she said.
Selina also questioned the identities of those conducting the operation, saying they wore neither RAB uniforms nor identification cards.
“At first, there was a physical fight. Then they opened fire. If they come to conduct an operation, they should arrest anyone they suspect. But there is no rule allowing them to fire indiscriminately like that,” she said.
Maruf went out after returning from work
Maruf, the youngest of three siblings, worked at a factory making aluminium cooking pots. His father had passed away some time ago, and the family depended on his earnings and those of his mother, who works as a domestic worker.
His wife, Mim Akter Runa, said Maruf went to work as usual on Tuesday and returned home around 5pm.
He changed his clothes and went out, asking her to prepare food before he returned.
Selina said her son had gone to spend time with friends when he heard about a fight nearby. A crowd had gathered, and Maruf went to see what was happening.
“There is a restaurant there. He was standing there watching. Suddenly, people started running and gunfire broke out. One of those bullets struck the right side of his neck,” she said.
Selina rejected allegations that Maruf was involved in drugs.
“A police officer is saying in the news that my son was involved in drugs. All of that is false. Ask around the neighbourhood. My son was a precious child,” she said.
Neighbours said Maruf had good relations with local residents and had never faced complaints or allegations of criminal involvement.
Residents also said police had detained several people, including men, women and teenagers during an operation the following day.
What the SRB FIRs say
According to the SRB’s FIRs, a decision was made around 5:45pm on 27 October to conduct an anti-drug operation at a building near Outfall Quarters in Dhalpur.
The team arrived at approximately 6:25pm and detained four people identified as Bhutto, Nasir, Arman and Arif, who were named as accused in two cases.
The FIRs claimed officers recovered 245 Yaba tablets, 129 packets of heroin, Tk1,540 and two feature phones from the detainees.
As officers attempted to take the four away, around 120 to 130 people, including their relatives, allegedly attacked the team with locally made weapons, firearms and pieces of brick.
The FIRs alleged that the attackers tried to free the detainees and fired indiscriminately.
When members of the crowd allegedly attempted to snatch two officers’ service weapons, the officers fired five blank rounds, according to the FIRs.
The four detainees subsequently escaped.
An officer from the SRB-10 Lalbagh camp filed a case over the operation, although the camp had initially denied taking part in any operation that night.
Jatrabari Police Station Sub-Inspector Shahin Hossain, who prepared Maruf’s inquest report, said an initial examination found two injury marks on his body: on his back and his shoulder.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner (Media) Akhtar Hossain said SRB members and drug traffickers had exchanged gunfire during the operation.
He said a teenage boy was injured during the exchange and later died while undergoing treatment at a hospital.
