AFM Sayed, the then officer-in-charge (OC) of Ashulia Police Station, has been arrested on charge of burning dead bodies after killing 46 people during the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement at Ashulia in Savar.
Sayed, an alleged mastermind behind killing of the protestors and then burning their bodies to conceal evidence, was arrested on Wednesday night (October 30) at Cox's Bazar. Then he was brought to Dhaka. Now has been kept at Shahbagh Police Station custody.
An arrest warrant has already been issued against him. He was produced before the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Thursday (October 31).
The police official went into hiding to evade arrest. He is known as a close associate of former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal. He could not evade arrest though he had adopted various strategies to avoid his responsibilities in Ashulia incident.
The Awami League government collapsed on August 5 this year in the face of the student movement. A gruesome video of policemen piling up bodies of unarmed civilians on a rickshaw van, covering those with a piece of cloth or plastic surfaced recently.
Blood was seen gushing from the wounds of the bodies, dropping on the street below.
Some policemen wearing vests were seen piling up the bodies, while some others were seen randomly walking around. Inspector Arafat was clearly identified in the footage.
Reports indicate that OC Sayed was directly involved in the horrific event, where he was on duty in plainclothes- wearing a blue polo shirt, black trousers, a bandage on one hand, and a wireless set in his pocket. He was seen smoking cigarettes repeatedly to defuse intense tension.
Four police officials, who witnessed the events leading up to the loading of bodies onto the van, revealed that OC Sayed led everything that unfolded at the site.
