Use handcuffs with caution, HC to police

The High Court today directed the police to remain cautious so that they do not misuse the handcuff for detained people.

The bench of Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice AKM Zahirul Haque came up with the order after hearing a suo moto (voluntary) rule issued after a student of Jahangirnagar University was handcuffed while being treated in hospital in May last year.

The HC bench had issued the rule following a report published by The Daily Star on May 29 last year “Handcuffed to hospital bed”.

According to the report, Jahangirnagar University student Nazmul Hossain, an accused in a vandalism case, became sick on May 27 last year while protesting the deaths of two JU students in a road crash the day before.

Nazmul was treated at Enam Medical College Hospital in Savar with one of his hands cuffed to the hospital bed. When he requested removal of the cuffs so he could eat, police refused to do so, witnesses and his fellows alleged, according to the report.

The HC issued the rule questioning the legality of handcuffing during the treatment after a lawyer for Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) placed The Daily Star report before the HC judges.

Yesterday, BLAST’s lawyer Advocate Abu Obaidur Rahman told The Daily Star that the details of the HC order can be known when the court will release its full text.

The HC order means that police cannot put handcuffs on any detained person at the places where there is no possibility of their escapes, the lawyer said.

Advocate Abu Obaidur added that the police personnel concerned had apologised to the HC for handcuffing Nazmul during the treatment at the hospital.