Six hours at a police station after bringing his sister to an exam: two young men taken into custody outside Armanitola centre

Coming out of the centre after her exam, a young woman could not find her brother at the agreed place; her mobile phone and bag were with him. A little later, several police members told her that her brother had been taken to Bangshal police station. The police members themselves then arranged a rickshaw for her to go to the station.

On Friday afternoon, the combined recruitment test for senior officer posts at nine banks and two financial institutions was held at Armanitola High School in Old Dhaka. The young man had brought his sister there to sit the exam. While the exam was under way, police handcuffed him outside the centre's gate and put him in a vehicle.

According to witnesses, the school's main gate was open before the exam began and relatives accompanying candidates could go inside. When the exam started at 3pm they were told to leave, and as police members moved them out, arguments broke out with several of them.

At 3:20pm police members came outside the gate, handcuffed one candidate's brother and, a short while later, put him in a police vehicle. Asked about the reason for the detention, a police member at the scene said the young man had 'tried to form a mob and tried to attack a police member'.

About 10 minutes later police detained a second young man outside the gate. When he refused to get into the vehicle he was forced in, and he suffered scratches and injuries in several places during the scuffle. It was later learned that he is an officer of a government bank. At that moment fear spread among the guardians waiting outside the exam centre and they scattered.

After the exam, the first young man's sister said she had left her mobile phone and bag with her brother before entering the hall, and it had been agreed that he would wait for her at a fixed place after the exam. Hearing from police that her brother had been taken to the station left her bewildered.

At Bangshal police station at around 5pm, the two young men were seen being kept seated and questioned; the candidate was also present at the station by then. A police member said their names and identities were being taken, and inquiries were being made in their own areas to learn about their political views.

After 5:30pm the two young men said an argument with police over leaving the exam centre had led to them being brought to the station. They alleged they were harassed despite doing nothing wrong, and said police had also taken their mobile phones.

At the station, the young man's sister said: 'The way we are being harassed over such a small matter is frustrating. My brother was brought to the station without doing anything wrong. We have been sitting here for so long, and they say nothing.' After 6pm the two young men were taken to the Bangshal OC's room; although they returned a short while later, they were kept waiting at the station.

Bangshal police station's officer-in-charge (OC) Md Ashik Iqbal said the two had been taken into custody to avoid an unwanted situation at the exam centre. Both were released a little before 9:30pm. After their release, neither of the two young men wanted to speak in detail; one only said: 'There is nothing to say. It was a strange experience.'