Hours after detention, suspect dies at hospital

A murder suspect died while under treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday, hours after detectives detained and took him to the hospital, family members have said.

They said DB officials picked up Ezaz Bin Alam around 3:00am yesterday from a hospital in the capital's Saat Masjid Road, where he was already taking treatment.

He died at the dialysis centre of DMCH around 6:08pm, police said.

According to the DMCH register, Sub-Inspector Mahfuz of the DB police admitted Ezaz to the hospital.

DB chief Rezaul Karim Mallick denied that the man died in their custody.

"A team detained him at a city hospital and found him sick. We then immediately took him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he died while undergoing treatment. We did not take him into our custody," said Rezaul, an additional commissioner (Detective Branch) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

Hafizur Rahman, inspector (investigation) of Mohammadpur Police Station, said Ezaz was wanted in a murder case.

Victim's father Shah Alam said his son was picked up by a joint forces team from Mohammadpur's Baroikhali area on March 10.

"He was then taken to a nearby camp. At the camp, he was tortured severely and then handed over to Mohammadpur police  early on the morning of March 11."

He added that Mohammadpur police then produced Ezaz before a Dhaka court, which granted him bail.

"Once he got bail, we admitted him to the hospital as he was sick. But again, he was picked up by the DB police," Alam told The Daily Star.

Iftekhar Hasan, officer-in-charge of Mohammadpur Police Station, said, "An army team arrested Ezaz and then handed him over to us on March 11 as his name was found in a murder case. We produced him before the court the same day, but he got bail."

The suspect was undergoing treatment at a hospital, from where a DB team detained him, he told this paper.

Contacted, the Inter Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) said, "It is not our issue as he was detained by an army team a long time ago, handed over to the police, and subsequently granted bail."

A local trader from Mohammadpur area said Ezaz was a close associate of top criminal Emon and was involved in different criminal activities.

Victim's father, Shah Alam, refuted this. "My son completed O-level and A-level and also completed LLB. He was supposed to go to the UK for higher studies after Eid, but now everything is finished."