Gana Odhikar Parishad general secretary Rashed Khan on Wednesday filed a complaint with the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal alleging that he was tortured in custody in Dhaka by detained Rangamati additional superintendent of police Ishtiaq Ahmed during the 2018 quota reform movement.
Rashed filed the complaint a day after the arrest of Ishtiaq in a case of crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the mass uprising in 2024.
Ishtiaq was an additional deputy commissioner of the Cyber Crime Unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police鈥檚 Detective Branch.
In his complaint, Rashed said that he was arrested on July 1, 2018, on what he described as a 鈥榝alse allegation鈥� of making derogatory remarks about the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
He claimed he was taken into the custody of the Detective Branch of police, where he was subjected to brutal physical abuse while in remand under the supervision of Ishtiaq.
Rashed further alleged that the torture left his legs severely injured for which he was admitted to police hospital.
He claimed that he was later blindfolded, gagged, and tortured further by tying hands.
He alleged that he was forced to consume unknown pills when he requested medical help.
鈥業 still endure the pain from that torture,鈥� Rashed wrote in the complaint, accusing Ishtiaq of systematically targeting opposition activists and dissenting voices during the Awami League regime.
During the mass uprising in 2024, Ishtiaq was serving as an additional deputy commissioner at the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. He is the elder of the two sons of Justice Md Abu Ahmed Jamadar, former chairman of the International Crimes Tribunal-1 and a retired High Court judge.
Ishtiaq was produced before the tribunal on Tuesday and the tribunal ordered his detention in connection with the Rampura killing case, one of several incidents during the 2024 mass uprising.
In a press release, ICT spokesperson Abdullah Al Noman said that a warrant for Ishtiaq鈥檚 arrest was issued on February 9.
He is accused of using drone surveillance to locate student gatherings and allegedly passing information to law enforcement agencies and ruling party leaders, which was reportedly used to target protestors.
