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Former National Citizen Party (NCP) joint member-secretary Gazi Salauddin Tanvir has alleged that he was tortured while in police custody and during his imprisonment.
“I was injected numerous times. I do not know what those injections were. I was given at least 70 to 80 injections,” Tanvir said at a press conference at the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) in Segunbagicha on Friday.
He alleged that he suffered persistent fever and was repeatedly given injections. On one occasion, he said, his hands and legs began shaking and a doctor administered an injection, after which his right hand and leg became paralysed.
“I was taken to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital in Bogura. The doctor there said I had suffered a stroke, but the prison authorities said I had not suffered a stroke and that there was nothing wrong,” he claimed.
Tanvir was arrested on August 5 from Dhaka in a case filed under the Cyber Security Act over an allegedly defamatory Facebook post about Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. He was subsequently placed on a three-day remand by a Bogura court on August 10.
He alleged that he was served spoiled food after being sent to jail and later developed diarrhoea. He said he was taken to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital for treatment but was not given the medicines prescribed by doctors and was instead given unidentified medicines.
Tanvir also alleged that he suffered complications during an MRI examination at the hospital.
According to him, the machine suddenly stopped with a loud noise while he was inside, after which he became paralysed from the waist down and remained unconscious for 10 to 12 hours.
He said he was later transferred to Dhaka for advanced treatment and kept at Keraniganj Central Jail. He alleged that unidentified men in plain clothes boarded a prison vehicle while he was being taken back to jail after receiving treatment and tortured him.
According to Tanvir, the men referred to Bashundhara Group chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan and his son Sayem Sobhan Anvir during the alleged assault.
He further alleged that he was taken to a dark room inside the jail on several occasions and tortured, with the names of former NCP leaders Nasiruddin Patwari, Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan and Salahuddin Ameer allegedly being mentioned during the abuse.
Tanvir claimed he was subjected to “extreme torture” from August 5 until September 15 and was threatened with harm to his family if he spoke publicly about the alleged torture.
He also alleged that he witnessed some Awami League-linked detainees receiving preferential treatment in jail, including access to phones, better food and family visits.
Tanvir was released from Dhaka Central Jail on September 15 after the High Court granted him one-year bail. He was subsequently taken to the National Institute of Neurosciences Hospital for advanced medical treatment, according to his lawyer.
Sara Bangla is trying to obtain comments from police and prison authorities regarding the allegations.