TDS Desk:

A police officer has testified that he was forced by a superior to falsify the inquest report on the death of Abu Sayed, a student at Begum Rokeya University killed during the last year’s July Uprising in Rangpur.

A three-member panel of the International Crimes Tribunal, led by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, heard the testimony of Sub-Inspector Md Tariqul Islam on Tuesday.

Tariqul worked at the Kotwali Police Station in Rangpur city and is currently posted at Dhaka’s Bhashantek Police Station.

He said that on Jul 16, 2024, while on duty in the Rangpur Kotwali Police Station area, he received a radio message around 4:30pm that there was a body being kept at the Rangpur Medical College Hospital and that it needed to be examined for an inquest report.

He said he took Constable Liton Debnath with him and went to the hospital and learnt that a student named Abu Sayed was shot dead by police in front of Begum Rokeya University, which fell under the jurisdiction of Tajhat Police Station.

Many students had gathered at the hospital and the situation turned quite tense. A large number of policemen were on duty at the scene, he said.

Tariqul said around 7pm, Assistant Commissioner Md Arifuzzaman of Rangpur Metropolitan Police’s Kotwali Zone asked him if he had seen the body. When he said he had not, Arifuzzaman asked him to go and see the body.

“When I came back after examining the body, I told him that there were numerous rubber bullet wounds on the body. There were injury marks on the back of the head and blood was oozing out of the wound, smearing the stretcher. He [AC Arifuzzaman] then said that the autopsy report should not state that the death was due to gunshot wounds.”

“When I disagreed with him, he abused me verbally. At one point he cursed my parents. He threatened me saying, ‘You’re a supporter of Jamaat, I’ll make you lose your job and sent you to jail in a false case.’ That scared me.”

He said Arifuzzaman later returned around 10:30pm with Executive Magistrate Ahmed Sadat and again pressed him to alter the report.

“I had no choice. In the magistrate’s presence, I omitted mention of pellets and instead wrote that the body bore numerous small wounds.”

Prosecutors MH Tamim, BM Sultan Mahmud and others were present during the testimony.Later, the defence lawyers cross examined him.