‘Police shot me in the knee after two days of torture,’ former student leader tells tribunal

A former student leader who lost his right leg after being shot in 2016 told the International Crimes Tribunal on Sunday that police detained him and a friend without recording their arrest, tortured them for two days and then took them to a field, where officers shot both men in the knees at close range.

Md Ruhul Amin gave the testimony before International Crimes Tribunal-1 on August 9, describing how he and his friend Md Israfil Hossain were allegedly detained by Chaugachha police in Jashore on August 3, 2016, subjected to physical and psychological torture at the police station and Detective Branch office, and shot the following day.

Both men later underwent amputations after their wounds deteriorated, Ruhul Amin told the tribunal. His right leg and Israfil’s left leg were amputated above the knee.

Ruhul Amin said he was a first-year management student at Jashore Government MM College at the time and served as literature secretary of the Chaugachha upazila unit of Islami Chhatra Shibir. Israfil, an economics student at the same college, was secretary of the organisation’s Chaugachha unit.

According to his testimony, the two were travelling by motorcycle to their village home in Narayanpur on the afternoon of August 3 when police stopped them in the Bundalitola area of Chaugachha.

Officers searched them and found a receipt for Chhatra Shibir’s Baitul Mal fund, he said. ASI Siraj was wearing a police uniform, while the other officers were in plainclothes.

Ruhul Amin testified that SI Mokhles, ASI Majid and other officers then took them to Chaugachha Police Station without making an official entry recording their detention.

He said the abuse began after nightfall.

The two students were taken to the officer-in-charge’s room and severely beaten, according to his testimony. Both eventually lost consciousness.

After they regained consciousness, then Chaugachha police OC Mashiur Rahman made a video call to then Jashore superintendent of police Anisur Rahman, Ruhul Amin testified.

He quoted the SP as saying: “Send them to me tomorrow, and then act according to my instructions.”

Ruhul Amin also told the tribunal that SI Akikul Islam suggested shooting the two detainees after they refused to provide names sought by police.

“Sir, they have been brainwashed. They are not giving us any names. Let’s shoot them,” Ruhul Amin quoted Akikul as telling Mashiur.

The following day, August 4, the two were taken to the Jashore Detective Branch office, where Ruhul Amin said they were again subjected to physical and psychological abuse.

There, he testified, a DB officer told them: “You will be shot today. There is an order to do so.”

Later that day, as evening approached, Chaugachha police put the two men in a vehicle and drove them toward a field in Bundalitola, Ruhul Amin said.

Their eyes were covered inside the vehicle and their hands were cuffed behind their backs.

After they were taken out of the vehicle, police began firing into the air, apparently to create the impression of a confrontation, according to his testimony.

Then Ruhul Amin said he heard the voice of OC Mashiur giving an order: “Sajjad, Jahurul, fire!”

An officer placed a firearm against Ruhul Amin’s right knee and shot him, he testified.

He fell to the ground. As he cried out, another gunshot followed. Israfil had also been shot in the knee, Ruhul Amin told the tribunal.

He alleged that what happened next worsened their injuries. Police removed the cloth covering his eyes, put sand into the injured area and then tightly wrapped it again with the cloth, he said.

In the light from the police vehicle, Ruhul Amin said he was able to identify several officers at the scene, including OC Mashiur Rahman, SI Akik, Constable Sajjad and Constable Jahirul, along with others.

The two injured men were first taken to Chaugachha Health Complex and then to Jashore Sadar Hospital before being transferred to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation in Dhaka, widely known as Pongu Hospital.

By then, according to Ruhul Amin, their wounds had deteriorated.

Doctors eventually amputated Ruhul Amin’s right leg above the knee. Israfil’s left leg was also amputated above the knee.

Ruhul Amin was sent to prison after receiving treatment and remained incarcerated until securing bail 42 days later.

He said police had also filed an arms case against him. He was acquitted in that case in 2017.

His legal ordeal, however, continued for nearly another decade. On July 27, 2026, a magistrate’s court acquitted him in another case stemming from the episode, according to his testimony.

Ruhul Amin also named several other people who he said suffered similar abuses during the period, including Moniruzzaman, who was left lying in prison after losing a leg, Ruhul Amin of Jhikargachha, Abul Kashem of Sharsha, Sulaiman of Manirampur and Jahidul Islam of Jashore Sadar.

He portrayed his experience as part of a wider pattern in which people protesting the then government were left permanently disabled.

Contemporary reports also documented the allegations surrounding the case. Local newspaper Loksamaj and Independent Television reported on the incident on August 6, 2016, while human rights organisation Odhikar later included the case in its annual report.

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