Bogura youth dies in DB custody; police, hospital give conflicting accounts

A 25-year-old man died while in the custody of the Detective Branch (DB) of Bogura Police, with police claiming he attempted suicide inside a detention cell, while a hospital physician said he was brought dead.

The deceased, Asaduzzaman Asad, was taken to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital (Mohammad Ali Hospital) on Sunday morning (July 19) after being detained a day earlier in connection with a murder and auto-rickshaw hijacking case.

According to Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Hussain Mohammad Raihan, Asad was arrested on July 18 from the city's Seujgari Rail Station area in connection with the June 29 killing of a CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver.

Police said the victim's mobile phone was recovered from Asad's possession.

Police claimed that after breakfast on Sunday, Asad entered the detention cell's washroom and failed to return for 10 to 12 minutes. Officers later found him hanging from a ventilation rod with his lungi wrapped around his neck.

The ASP said Asad was still alive when officers brought him down and was rushed to the hospital, where he was placed on oxygen support before being declared dead. Police described the incident as suicide.

However, Dr Iftekharul Islam, the physician on duty at the hospital's emergency department, said Asad had already died before being brought to the hospital.

The doctor said ligature marks were found around the victim's neck, consistent with hanging, and no other visible injury marks were detected during the preliminary examination.

The incident has raised questions over the circumstances surrounding the death, as police and hospital authorities have given conflicting accounts regarding whether Asad was alive when he was taken for treatment.