Supreme Court to Hear Appeal Against Acquittal in 2014 Custodial Death Case
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The Supreme Court’s Appellate Division has scheduled a hearing for August 23 to review a petition challenging the acquittal of a police informant in the custodial death case of driver Ishtiaq Hossain Jony. The petition, filed by the victim’s brother, seeks to overturn a High Court ruling that cleared the informant, identified as Russell, of charges related to the 2014 incident in Dhaka’s Pallabi area. Chamber Judge M. Rezaul Haque set the date on Tuesday, moving the case to a regular bench for further deliberation.
This legal battle represents a landmark case under the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, which was enacted in 2013. The case dates back to February 2014, when Jony and his brother, Imtiaz Hossain, were arrested by police following an altercation with a police informant at a wedding ceremony in Pallabi’s Irani Camp. According to the case filings, Jony was subjected to severe physical abuse while in police custody, ultimately succumbing to his injuries after being transported to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
In September 2020, a Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Court delivered a verdict sentencing three officers and two informants to prison. Former Sub-Inspector Jahidur Rahman, Assistant Sub-Inspector Rashedul Hasan, and informant Kamruzzaman were initially sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to pay compensation. Two other informants, including Russell, received seven-year sentences.
Following appeals by the convicted parties, the High Court issued a modified judgment last August. While the life sentence for Jahidur Rahman was upheld, the court reduced Rashedul Hasan’s sentence to 10 years and ordered his acquittal on specific charges, while simultaneously overturning the conviction of Russell. The victim’s family, supported by the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), is now seeking to reinstate the original conviction against Russell.
According to state legal representatives, the status of the accused remains varied. Informant Kamruzzaman has remained a fugitive since the inception of the case, while the other informant, identified as Suman, has completed his sentence and been released from custody. The upcoming Supreme Court hearing will focus on whether the High Court erred in clearing Russell of his involvement in the fatal assault.
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