A judicial magistrate will lead the inquiry in to the death of Teknaf Councillor Ekramul Haque during the anti-narcotics drive in Cox’s Bazar, says Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.
“Ekram’s family is yet to file an official complaint and provide law enforcers with the audio clip. But still a magistrate will probe the incident and actions will be taken based on his findings,” he said on Saturday.
Five days after Ekram was killed on the night of May 26, his family claimed at a news conference on Friday that he was killed in cold blood, not during a shootout as claimed by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
The family distributed an audio clip to reporters of conversation between the slain councilor and his daughter and wife before he died. The audio recorded on a mobile phone also captured sounds of gunshots and groans of a dying man.
Speaking to reporters at his residence on Saturday, Home Minister Kamal said, “No one (from Ekram’s family) has provided us with the audio record, but we have heard it.”
He assured that no one will be spared in case of a wrongful death.
“If any one has done any thing wrong then he will be brought to justice. Let me make it clear and repeat that no one is above the law.”
On the audio clip by Ekram’s family, which has now gone viral on the internet, the minister said they are yet to receive it ‘officially’.
“We have no such information. No one has officially reported the incident.”
As many as 13,000 arrests have been made during the anti-drug drive, Kamal said before adding: “Between 33 to 35 percent of the nearly 85,000 prisoners are accused of narcotics charges.”