Ex-Addl SP Kafi detained over killing, burning bodies

Former Additional Superintendent of Police (crime and operations) of Dhaka district Md Abdullahil Kafi, who was accused of burning bodies after killing students and people in Ashulia, Dhaka on August 5, has been arrested.

He was detained at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Monday, a source from the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) confirmed.  

A DB official said that since Kafi is a police officer, certain legal procedures must be followed before taking any action against him. He will be asked about his involvement in the August 5 incident in Ashulia. Based on the findings, senior officials will decide on the necessary course of action.

What happened in Ashulia on August 5?

A video circulating on social media shows police loading bodies of gunshot victims onto a van and covering them with a banner. This video was recorded near Ashulia police station in Dhaka on August 5, shortly after Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country.  

Police sources confirmed the date and location of the video after analysing Google geolocation data, and nearby images. 

Qadaruddin Shishir, head of fact-checking at AFP’s Bangladesh bureau, said the incident took place in an alley in front of the police station near Bypail Central Jame Masjid. 

The video shows two police officers stacking bodies. Local police and residents identified one officer as an inspector of DB police.

They also said the other officers, in plainclothes, wearing police helmets and bulletproof vests, are mostly from the same police branch.