Journalist files case against Pradeep

Journalist Faridul Mostafa, editor and publisher of daily Cox’s Bazar Bani and online newspaper Janatar Bani, filed a case on Tuesday against suspended Teknaf Police Station officer-in-charge Pradeep Kumar Das and his associates for falsely incriminating him in six cases for crying drugs and arms and for torturing him in police custody.

Faridul filed the case against Pradeep and 25 other police officers and four police sources with the court of senior judicial magistrate Tamanna Farha.

The magistrate ordered the Police Bureau of Investigation to investigate the allegations and submit a report by December 7, said Faridul’s lawyer Abul Kalam Siddique.

District public prosecutor Faridul Alam said that the court would decide whether to accept it as a formal case after getting the investigation report.

Journalist Faridul Mostafa claimed in his petition that Pradeep and his associates filed six cases against his alleged involvement in drugs and arms dealings and extortions with Teknaf and Cox’s Bazar sadar police stations in September 2019.

Faridul said that he was falsely incriminated in the cases because he published series of stories against Pradeep’s extrajudicial killing, collecting extortion and other criminal activities, including ‘sham crossfires.’

Pradeep and his associates picked him up from Dhaka on September 21, 2019 and tortured him in lockup, broke his one leg and a hand, chained and gaged him and put chilli power in his eyes for three days.

Later, he was sent to Cox’s Bazar jail on September 23, 2019 evening.

He got bail after 11 months five days on August 27.

Pradeep has been in jail in a case filed over the killing of Sinha Md Rashed Khan, a retired army major, on July 31.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net