The High Court on Monday upheld the life sentence of then sub-inspector Zahidur Rahman Khan in the 2014 custodial death case of Ishtiaque Ahmed Jony, an Urdu-speaking youth who died in police custody at Pallabi police station.
It reduced the sentence of suspended assistant sub-inspector Rashedul Hasan from life term imprisonment to 10 years imprisonment.
The court also acquitted police informer Rassel, who had been jailed for seven years earlier by the trial court.
The bench of Justice SM Kuddus Zaman and Justice AKM Rabiul Hassan announced the verdict after hearing appeals filed by the three convicted individuals against a lower court judgment delivered in 2020.
The court also ordered Rashedul Hasan to pay Tk 25,000 as compensation to Jony鈥檚 mother.
It further observed that a separate compensation claim could be filed against the police and the government for Jony鈥檚 custodial death.
The life sentence of another accused, assistant sub-inspector Kamruzzaman Mintu, was also upheld.
However, he has yet to surrender or be arrested in connection with the case.
Another police informer, Sumon, who was earlier sentenced to seven-year imprisonment, was released from the jail after completion of his seven years jail term in the same case.
Another High Court rejected his appeal against this jail term.
This is the first-ever verdict by the High Court under the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013.
The law was enacted to prevent custodial torture and hold law enforcement accountable for abuses in state custody.
The 2020 verdict by the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge鈥檚 Court was also the first trial court judgment under this law.
According to case documents, Jony was arrested on February 9, 2014, during a pre-wedding celebration at Irani Camp in Pallabi. He was a human-hauler driver. He was picked up along with his brother Imtiaz Hossain Raki and three others.
The arrests followed an altercation in which Jony allegedly slapped police informer Sumon for harassing female dancers at the event. Sumon and his associates then called the police.
A police team, led by SI Zahidur, conducted the raid and arrested the five men. Jony died later that day in custody.
On September 9, 2020, the lower court sentenced SI Zahidur, ASI Kamruzzaman Mintu, and ASI Rashedul Hasan to life imprisonment. Informers Sumon and Rassel were sentenced to seven-year imprisonment each.
