assault on journos

Probe committee finds several cops guilty

A probe committee formed to investigate an alleged police assault on two journalists of ATN News was due to submit its report last evening, recommending punishment for several policemen, including ASI Ershad.
An additional deputy commissioner (ADC) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), who is a member of the probe committee, said: “We are accusing ASI Ershad of masterminding the assault on the two journalists.”
But he added that other constables would also be pulled up. They are mainly from the Public Order Management (POM) Division of the DMP.
However, he refused to disclose the details of the probe report before submitting it.
A group of policemen had allegedly assaulted ATN News cameraperson Abdul Alim and reporter Eshan Didar who were covering a police crackdown on a strike called by the National Oil, Gas, and Ports Protection Committee at Shahbagh on Thursday. The DMP suspended assistant sub-inspector Ershad of Shahbagh police station for his alleged involvement in the assault, claiming that he was the only constable to be identified.
DMP deputy police commissioner (Ramna division) Maruf Hossain Sarder told this correspondent yesterday that the report was to be submitted to him later in the evening. “I will hand over the report to the DMP commissioner for necessary action,” he said.
“I did not interfere with the probe. I told the probe committee members that they could investigate the incident independently,” he added.
Maruf Hossain Sarder said he had written to POM officials on the day of the incident to interrogate the identified constables. Imtiaz Ahmed, a joint commissioner of the POM Division, could not be reached despite several attempts.
Probash Amin, associate head of news at ATN, said, “The policemen who were involved in the barbaric attack on the two journalists have tarnished the image of the government and the police force.”
Replying to a question, Probhash Amin said a dangerous situation would arise if law enforcers were to take the law into their own hands.
About the possible punishment to the accused policemen, the senior journalist said: “If you pick out ten such incidents of police assault on journalists in recent times, you will see that the culprits were not given any exemplary punishment, but were let off with closure, or at best, transfers.”
Many of the accused men were given prized postings later, said Probhash Amin, who is also a renowned poet.

assault on journos

Probe committee finds several cops guilty

A probe committee formed to investigate an alleged police assault on two journalists of ATN News was due to submit its report last evening, recommending punishment for several policemen, including ASI Ershad. An additional deputy commissioner (ADC) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), who is a member of the probe committee, said: We are accusing ASI Ershad of masterminding the assault on the two journalists. But he added that other constables would also be pulled up. They are mainly from the Public Order Management (POM) Division of the DMP. However, he refused to disclose the details of the probe report before submitting it. A group of policemen had allegedly assaulted ATN News cameraperson Abdul Alim and reporter Eshan Didar who were covering a police crackdown on a strike called by the National Oil, Gas, and Ports Protection Committee at Shahbagh on Thursday. The DMP suspended assistant sub-inspector Ershad of Shahbagh police station for his alleged involvement in the assault, claiming that he was the only constable to be identified. DMP deputy police commissioner (Ramna division) Maruf Hossain Sarder told this correspondent yesterday that the report was to be submitted to him later in the evening. I will hand over the report to the DMP commissioner for necessary action, he said. I did not interfere with the probe. I told the probe committee members that they could investigate the incident independently, he added. Maruf Hossain Sarder said he had written to POM officials on the day of the incident to interrogate the identified constables. Imtiaz Ahmed, a joint commissioner of the POM Division, could not be reached despite several attempts. Probash Amin, associate head of news at ATN, said, The policemen who were involved in the barbaric attack on the two journalists have tarnished the image of the government and the police force. Replying to a question, Probhash Amin said a dangerous situation would arise if law enforcers were to take the law into their own hands. About the possible punishment to the accused policemen, the senior journalist said: If you pick out ten such incidents of police assault on journalists in recent times, you will see that the culprits were not given any exemplary punishment, but were let off with closure, or at best, transfers. Many of the accused men were given prized postings later, said Probhash Amin, who is also a renowned poet.