HC furious at IO about forced confession from minor, terming it a ‘grave crime’
This was in connection with a 2015 murder of a child in Bogura
The High Court on Sunday said that the alleged forcing of a minor in Bogura, making him confess to killing his younger brother was not a "mistake" committed by the investigating officer (IO), but a grave crime.
The court was referring to the murder of a child that took place in Bogura in 2015 where Md Shohag (8) was killed and his older brother Sourav (12) was shown arrested in the case. He was also allegedly forced into a confessional statement.
Upon further investigation, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) found Sourav to be innocent, arresting two other persons who confessed to the murder of Sourav's younger brother Shohag.
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However, on Sunday, the High Court was furious about the purported forced confession and the virtual HC bench of Justice Jahangir Hossain and Justice Md Ataur Rahman said, "Even if he (IO) committed a mistake taking the confession, can we let him go?"
Earlier on 11 June, The Daily Star published a story about the case with the headline "Bearing the unbearable." Seeing this, on 20 June, five lawyers of the Supreme Court sought directives for a legal review of the case, attaching a copy of the news article to their petition.
After hearing the plea on 29 June, the High Court summoned Nayan Kumar, inspector, Criminal Investigation Department of Natore. Nayan was the first investigating officer of the Bogura case as a former sub-inspector of Sariakandi Police Station.
The current investigating officer (IO) in Bogura, Md Mansur Ali, a PBI sub inspector, was also asked to appear in court with the case docket.
Both the former and present case investigation officers in Shohag's Bogura murder case appeared in court on Sunday. They submitted a written explanation on the allegation of a forced confession from then 12 year old minor Sourav, brother of 8 year old Shohag who was murdered in Bogura back in 2015.
Nayan, the initial Bogura case investigating officer back in 2015, filed a plea for unconditional forgiveness regarding the matter of a forced confession but the court dismissed it, saying Nayan did what he did deliberately and that it was too grave an offence to be termed a mere mistake.
The court has set 6 September as the next hearing date and IO Nayan Kumar has been directed to be present then.
