e_Paper, Sunday, July 23, 2017

News
9
SUNDAY, JULY 23, 2017
DT
Who gouged Shahjalal’s eyes out?
• Rafsan Jani
NATION
A man from Khulna has alleged that
policemen from Khulna’s Khalishpur
police station had gouged out his
eyes after he refused to bribe them.
The victim, Shahjalal, is now
undergoing treatment at the Dhaka
Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
Shahjalal said: “I went out to buy
milk for my daughter in the evening,
on July 18, when policemen arriving
on three motorcycles picked me up
saying that there were many complaints
against me. They beat me up
mercilessly at the police station and
demanded Tk1 lakh for my release.
“When I said that I did not have
the money, they took me out of the
station saying that I would be admitted
to the hospital. Then they
took me to Bishwa Road area and
gouged out my eyes after tying up
my hands, feet and mouth.”
He said when only the driver of
the police van was wearing uniform
while the others were in plainclothes.
However, Khaliashpur police
station Officer-in-Charge Nasir
Khan claimed that it was the people
who gouged out Shahjalal’s eyes
after he was caught snatching a bag
from one Suma Aktar near Khalishpur’s
Golakhali rail line.
He said police later rescued him
and took him to the police station.
The OC further said a woman
who was hijacked filed a case against
Shahjalal with the police station.
“Shahjalal is also accused in six
to seven cases filed in different police
stations,” he added.
Shahjalal’s wife Rahela Begum
said: “Hearing the news that my
husband was picked up by Inspector
Rasel and Mamun, I rushed to
the station. I was allowed to see my
husband for Tk100. His eyes were
fine at the time. Then a police officer
said they would release my
husband if we give them Tk1 lakh.
Then they asked me to leave.
“I stayed in front of the police
station that night and saw that the
policemen took Shahjalal out of
the station around 11:30pm. I kept
waiting, but my husband was not
brought back to the station on that
night. Police later asked me to go
to the hospital. I rushed there and
found him lying on the floor.”
Dr Faridul Hasan of Dhaka Medical
College said: “The injury is so
severe that we are not sure whether
he will get back his eye sight. •
This story was first published on the
Bangla Tribune.
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Situation in Myanmar
Yanghee Lee speaks during a news conference in Yangon REUTERS
UN envoy complains of
state surveillance, access
restrictions in Myanmar
• Reuters, Yangon
WORLD
Activists and journalists in
newly democratic Myanmar
continue to be followed and
questioned by state surveillance
agents, a UN envoy said
on Friday, at the conclusion of
a visit she said was beset by
official snooping and access
restrictions.
Aung San Suu Kyi came to
power last year after a landslide
in the landmark 2015 elections.
She does not oversee the
police or the military, which
ruled the country for decades
and retains its powerful position
under a constitution
drafted by the former junta.
Special Rapporteur Yanghee
Lee told a news conference
at the conclusion of her 12-day
visit that she faced “increasing
restrictions” on her access.
Lee said the government,
citing security concerns, had
prevented her from visiting
parts of the northeast where
the military is accused of
abuses against civilians in its
conflict with ethnic rebels.
She was also not allowed
to visit three journalists detained
last month by the army
and charged with contacting
a rebel group, despite the site
of their detention being a popular
tourist spot, the human
rights envoy said.
Myanmar regularly blocks
monitors and journalists from
travelling to areas near the
conflicts citing concerns over
safety. Security officials say
monitoring prominent people
is a normal part of their work.
Lee said it was “unacceptable”
that people meeting her
were watched and even followed
by agents she suspected
to be from the police Special
Branch that once stalked political
opponents during almost
half a century of dictatorship.
“I have to say I am disappointed
to see the tactics
applied by the previous government
still being used,” she
said.
“In the previous times,
human rights defenders,
journalists and civilians were
followed, monitored and surveyed
and questioned. That’s
still going on,” Lee added.
Suu Kyi’s office did not directly
address the issues of access
or surveillance, but said it
was “disappointed” with Lee’s
end of mission statement,
which “contains many sweeping
allegations and a number
of factual errors”. •