Khulna OC faces assault charge

A police official in Khulna earned peoples wrath for allegedly assaulting an elderly villager on Tuesday, prompting a local court to order investigation into the charge against him. Court and local sources said officer-in-charge (OC) of Batiaghata Police Station Moniruzzaman Molla allegedly beat up a former member of Bangladesh Ansar for what he said "interference" during investigation of a murder case in Tentultala village. As the retired Ansar man urged the police official to be cautious against harassment of any innocent person of the village, OC Molla allegedly hurled abusive words at the old man and at one stage assaulted him, alleged the locals. "Like other village elders, retired Ansar personnel Babul Hawladar appeared at the scene as the Batiaghata police OC arrived in Tentultala to investigate the murder of a shrimp enclosure owner. As Babul urged the OC to be careful so that no innocent person is harassed during the investigation of the case, the police officer caught him and beat him up. The OC also hurled abuses for 'interference'," a lawyer who was present at the village during the incident, told reporters. The action of the police official infuriated the villagers. They sought legal action against him. Hawladar filed a case with the Senior Judicial Magistrate’s Court, Khulna, on Tuesday. The court took the case into cognizance and ordered the Batiaghata Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) to investigate the complaint. “The court asked the UNO to submit his findings by the end of this month,” Hawladar's lawyer Ali Imran Hossain said. However, Batiaghata OC Moniruzzaman Molla denied the allegation. He said that he went to the village to investigate the murder of a shrimp farm owner last month. He also claimed that he did not assault anyone. The OC said he just rebuked the retired Ansar man as he demanded that an arrestee in the murder case be released, according to a news agency.
- mbz