Nayan Kumar, currently an inspector of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police in Naogaon, who was a Sub-Inspector of Sariakandi Police Station in Bogura and also the Investigation Officer (IO) in a child murder case, has been barred from taking part in investigation in any case.
The High Court (HC) by an order on Monday said that the said police inspector cannot take part in investigation of any case until the child murder case of Bogura is disposed of.
The virtual HC bench of Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim and Justice Md Atoar Rahman issued the order against the police inspector for forcibly taking confessional statement from the brother of the murdered brother.
Nayan Kumar recorded the confessional statement from a 12-year-old child in the murder case of his eight-year-old younger brother on November 30 in 2015.
The HC bench held the hearing in a criminal revision petition which was filed challenging the legality of the trial proceedings of the case at the Juvenile Court in Bogura.
“He (Nayan Kumar) has committed a serious offence by forcibly taking confessional statement. It is not credible that a minor killed his younger brother. It seems to us that Nayan Kumar is not competent to conduct investigation into any offence. He should be restrained from any investigation proceedings for the interest of the country,” said the HC bench.
The HC bench asked the current IO of the case Md Mansur Ali, a sub-inspector of Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) in Bogura, to send the relevant documents of the case to it by September 27. The IO virtually appeared before the HC bench as per its August 22 summons. The court fixed September 27 for further hearing on the petition.
Nayan Kumar appeared before the HC bench on September 6 in compliance with its August 22 summons. He has also been ordered to appear in person to the HC bench on September 27.
Nayan Kumar, however, submitted a petition through his lawyer Sarwar Ahmed offering
unconditional apology. He sought exemption from personal appearance before the court in connection with the revision petition. He, however, said in the petition that he had recorded confessional statement according to relevant provisions of the law.
Advocate Mohammad Shishir Manir moved the court on behalf of the petition, while Deputy Attorney General Sarwar Hossain Bappi represented the state.
Advocate Shishir Manir produced some documents before the HC bench, saying that the confessional statement was extracted forcibly from the child by beating and torturing him. There were marks of injury on his body when he had been taken to a hospital the following day of recording his confessional statement.
Earlier, on August 22, the HC bench also rebuked the police inspector for taking confessional statement forcibly from a child.
Five Supreme Court lawyers, including Advocate Shishir Manir, filed the petition on June 20, seeking direction from the higher court in reviewing the merit of the murder case. The lawyers filed the petition after an English daily published a report on the incident on June 11.
On August 25 in 2015, the body of the child named Sohagh was found in a jute field at Katakhali under Sariakandi upazila in Bogura. The following day, his father Mohidul filed a case with Sariakandi Police Station.
On November 29 of the same year, policemen visited their home and took Sourav, the brother of the deceased, to the police station for questioning. The following day, Sourav was produced before a Bogura court where he gave a statement, confessing to the murder of his brother. The court recorded the confessional statement under Section 164.
Police submitted a chargesheet naming Sourav as the lone accused, but the father filed a no-confidence petition and the court handed over the investigation to PBI on July 11 in 2017. After investigation for the last four years, PBI found Sourav to be innocent and arrested two persons in connection with the murder.
