Arrest warrant issued against DB official on charge of torturing wife

A Dhaka court on Monday issued an arrest warrant against an additional deputy police commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch in a case filed by his wife under the Women and Child Repression Prevention Act.

Dhaka Women and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal-8 Judge Mafruza Parvin passed the order on Monday (9 January).

His wife Dr Sheikh Mrinmoyi Hossain, a physician, filed the case on 22 November last year with the Tribunal. The plaintiff is also the daughter of a retired additional inspector general of police Shiekh Hemayet Hossain.

In November, the court also asked Dhaka Chief Judicial Magistrate Mashfiqul Haque to investigate the case and submit a probe report to the tribunal.

The plaintiff's lawyer Supreme Court Advocate Ishtrat Hasan told The Business Standard that the chief judicial magistrate found evidence of torture.

"Taking account of the report and circumstantial evidence, the court issued an arrest warrant on Monday," Ishtrat Hasan added.

The inquiry report was submitted before the court on 1 January, said the lawyer.

Shahadat Hossain is a decorated police officer from the 31st Bangladesh Civil Service police batch and an awardee of several medals, including the Bangladesh Police Medal.

According to the case documents, he was demanding Tk1 crore as dowry from his wife Mrinmoyi for long and used to physically torture her.

The police officer had earlier demanded Tk30 lakh as dowry for buying land and tortured his wife as she refused to pay the amount, it said.