Sylhet:A Sylhet court has sentenced suspended Sub-Inspector Akbar Hossain Bhuiyan to death in connection with the custodial death of Raihan Ahmed. The verdict was delivered on Thursday by Sylhet Metropolitan and Session Judge Abdul Majid Munshi. In addition to the death sentence for Akbar, the court handed life imprisonment to two other individuals and a seven-year jail term to three more.
According to United News of Bangladesh, the individuals sentenced to life imprisonment are suspended constables Harun-or-Rshid and Titu Chandra Das. The three others who received seven-year sentences include suspended SI Hasan Uddin, Assistant Sub-Inspector Asheque Elahi, and journalist Abdullah Al Noman. The court also imposed a fine of Tk 1 lakh on Akbar. Among the convicts, only Asheque was present in the dock, while the others were tried in absentia.
The case stems from an incident on October 11, 2020, when Raihan Ahmed, a 34-year-old resident of Akhalia in Sylhet city, died after being beaten in police custody at the Bandarbazar police outpost. His wife, Tahmina Akter Tanni, filed a case with the Kotwali Police Station following the incident. Four policemen, including Akbar, were suspended the day after the incident, and the case was later transferred to the Police Bureau of Investigation.
Akbar was apprehended on November 9, 2020, while attempting to flee to India. Charges against six people, including Akbar, were formally pressed on May 5, 2021. Although Akbar was released on bail on August 11, 2025, he failed to surrender after his bail was subsequently stayed.
The sequence of events leading to Raihan's death began when he was taken to the police outpost on October 10, 2020. Policemen demanded Tk 10,000 for his release. Raihan's uncle initially brought Tk 5,000 to the police outpost, but the officers refused the amount, insisting on the full Tk 10,000. Upon returning the next day with the required sum, Raihan's uncle was informed that Raihan had fallen ill and been taken to a hospital, only to discover that Raihan had already passed away and his body sent for a post-mortem.