Nur Nabi, the key coordinator of the Jagannath University (JnU) unit of the Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement, recounted the brutal torture he faced after being detained by the Detective Branch (DB) of police. He detailed the experience at a press conference held on Friday in front of the Shaheed Minar at JnU.
Nur Nabi was detained by DB on July 19 from the university’s main gate. “They laid me down and said, ‘One hand was broken by the Chhatra League, and we will break the other,’” he shared. He described how they pressed a stick from his knees to his navel, mimicking rolling dough, and threatened to kill him whenever he cried.
He was transported to the DB office on Minto Road in Dhaka in five DB vehicles. "As soon as I got into the car, they started beating me, especially Assistant Commissioner Golam Mustafa and his team," he said. Upon reaching the DB office, the torture intensified. He was blindfolded, stripped of his clothes, and beaten severely, with police accusing him of being a terrorist involved with Shibir.
Nur Nabi was subjected to electric shocks, beaten on his legs, and injected with an unknown substance. He described the psychological torment of being forced to listen to a recording of his voice saying goodbye to his mother, fearing he would die. DB officials further accused him of receiving military training and threatened to kill him in a crossfire.
In prison, his requests for medical help were denied, and he was placed in a cell with water mixed with chili powder. He described being forced to hold a petrol bomb for a staged photo intended to frame him. Nur Nabi’s ordeal ended with his release, which he described as his "second independence."
University coordinators and other student activists attended the press conference, supporting Nur Nabi as he recounted his harrowing experience.
