In the morning of July 16, 2011, then OC Helal Uddin of Khilgaon Police Station took Dhaka University student Abdul Kadar to his room, beat him up and hacked his left leg with a machete, leaving him badly injured.
Now a teacher at a government college, Kadar told this to a Dhaka court yesterday while narrating his ordeal in police custody nearly three years ago.
The victim was in tears while talking of the inhuman torture on him. He demanded the court mete out exemplary punishment to the cop.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Alamgir Kabir Raj recorded Kadar's statement in a case filed by the victim and later fixed April 6 for cross-examination of the witness by the defence.
Testifying in the court, Kadar said some plainclothes cops of Khilgaon Police Station hit him with sticks in the capital's Segunbagicha in the wee hours of July 16, 2011 when he was returning to his dormitory, Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall, from a relative's house at Eskaton.
“When I introduced myself as a Dhaka University student and asked the cops about the reason for beating me up, they [policemen] got angry and took me to Khilgaon Police Station,” he added.
The following day, police sued Kadar in two cases -- one for robbery and another for possession of an illegal firearm -- with Khilgaon Police Station, and also showed him arrested in another false case filed with Mohammadpur Police Station for carjacking.
Following media reports, the police authorities on July 29, 2011 closed OC Helal, sub-inspector Alam Badsha and assistant sub-inspector Shahidur Rahman of Khilgaon Police Station to Rajarbagh Police Lines. Kadar walked free on bail on August 3 that year.
The victim sought help from the higher court which directed the government and top cops to launch special probes into the incident.
A former student at the DU's biochemistry and molecular biology department, Kadar on January 23, 2012 filed the case against Helal with Khilgaon Police Station in line with recommendations by a probe committee of the law ministry and a High Court order.
Helal, the lone accused in the case, was present at the court during yesterday's hearing. On April 3, 2012, he was sent to jail upon surrender to a court. The cop later secured bail from the High Court.
Kadar also told the court that he has been acquitted in all the cases filed against him by police as the charges were unfounded.