Annie Was Not Tortured, He Lied In Court: Kamal

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal today said BNP Publicity Secretary Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, who was arrested in two cases, was not tortured but he lied in court.

"Anni did not take bail. So, he was arrested by the law enforcers. He was not tortured. But he made false allegations in court. No door of his house was broken (during arrest). He lied to draw the attention of the court," he said.

The minister made the remarks in response to a question from journalists after the autumn festival organized by Satyen Sen artists' group at Bakultala of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University.

He said that warranted accused have to go to the court for taking bail, adding, "But Mr. Annie did not take bail. What he said in the court is false. Because he could not show any evidence of torture. The police did not torture him. There are CCTV cameras. We did not find the evidence. Annie is still in the white dress, which he wore."

About the allegation of breaking Annie's door, the home minister said that security forces always work to maintain law and order in the country. "We always say -those who are accused in a case go to the court and take bail. But police went to arrest Mr. Annie as he did not take bail. It is the duty of police," he added.

Kamal also said that the police also requested Annie's relatives to open the door, but they did not respond to the police and later police knocked on the door, 

Police arrested Annie from his Dhanmondi house on October 10 and later produced him in court in a sabotage case. The court granted a four-day remand after the hearing case.