An Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) and two police constables have been closed over the death of a school employee, who was found hanging with a shirt tied to the iron grill in a police cell at Chakaria Police Station in Cox’s Bazar early Friday.
Md Shafiqul Islam, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Chakaria Police Station, confirmed the matter and stated that ASI Hanif Mia along with two other police personnel have been withdrawn from their duties due to administrative reasons.
The deceased as Durjoy Chowdhury, 27, son of Kamal Chowdhury from Hindupara in Chakaria Municipality, was an office assistant at Chakaria Government Pilot High School.
Police said Rabeya Khanam, headteacher of the school, filed a complaint on Thursday night, accusing Durjoy of embezzling Tk 283,000.
The headteacher along with several teachers allegedly detained Durjoy at the school and handed him over to police at night.
Later, the president of the school management committee and Chakaria Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) Rupayan Deb ordered the police station to take legal action against the accused Durjoy.
According to sources, on receiving instructions, the police took a general diary (GD) at around 11 pm and kept Durjoy Chowdhury in the police station lockup as a suspect.
The police station’s CCTV footage showed Durjoy Chowdhury walking inside the cell at around 1:27am, but the police found his hanging body at around 4 am.
Meanwhile, Durjoy Chowdhury’s family and local residents also protested around 2pm on Friday over his death. They also held a human chain programme on the Cox’s Bazar-Chittagong Highway.
