Two officers withdrawn for negligence in Natore
Collected Photo
Two police officers have been withdrawn for negligence of duty after locals attacked them during an inquest on two drowned children in Gurudaspur, Natore.
District Additional Superintendent of Police Iftekhar Alam confirmed the matter and said they are under Police Lines.
The withdrawn officers are Gurudaspur Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Abul Bashar and Constable Md Rakib.
The incident took place around 7:30 pm on Tuesday at Wapda Bazar in Nazirpur Union. Earlier, locals recovered the bodies of Farhan Islam, 7, and Lam Hossain, 8, from a river.
Locals said the two children went to bathe in the river near their house. Within moments, the strong current washed them away. Seeing this, a man named Arjun Haldar jumped into the river to rescue the children. Meanwhile, neighbors informed the families of Farhan and Lam.
After rescuing the two children, locals took them to the Sadar Hospital, where doctors declared them dead. Gurudaspur Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) added that they were sending police to investigate the incident.
Then SI Bashar and Constable Rakib arrived to investigate in the evening while the families were preparing for the funeral prayer (janaza). When the officers attempted to conduct the inquest, the relatives and locals objected.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a local said, “After Maghrib prayer, preparations for the children’s janazah were ongoing at the local Eidgah field. At that time, two police officers arrived and began the investigation. The relatives objected to this. This led to an altercation with the police. The police insisted that they must prepare the inquest report.”
He added that at one point of the argument, locals attacked the two police officers. They beat them, took them to a nearby madrasa, and locked them inside. Upon receiving the information, additional police forces arrived and rescued them.
District Additional Superintendent of Police Iftekhar Alam said, “Those two children died by drowning in water. Just before the start of the janazah, they (the two police officers) went there to perform the inquest. They failed to make the local people understand. There was negligence in their duty. For this reason, they have been withdrawn.”
