Family claims constable Kausar is ‘mentally ill’

The family of Constable Kausar Ali, who shot dead his co-worker while on police duty in Dhaka’s diplomatic enclave, say he suffers from ‘mental illness’.

His wife, Nilufar Yasmin Sathi, says that her husband sought treatment at a Pabna hospital several times while working as a policeman.

But police officials say they have no information regarding his illness.

Around 11:45am on Thursday, Kausar opened fire with an SMG haphazardly, killing Constable Monirul Islam on the northern end of the guard room at the Palestinian Embassy in Dhaka.

Sazzad Hossain Shahrukh, a driver for the Japanese Embassy, was also fired upon by Kausar and injured in the incident.

Monirul’s brother Constable Mahabubul Haque has filed a case at Gulshan Police Station over the incident. Kausar has been arrested in that case and remanded into police custody for seven days for interrogation.

Kausar hails from Daulatkhali Darer Para village in Kushtia’s Daulatpur Upazila. He is the son of freedom fighter Hayat Ali Master. His wife and two sons live at their ancestral home.

The family says that Kausar joined the Bangladesh police on Dec 15, 2005. In 2010, he started showing signs of mental illness. He did not speak to anyone and had a short temper that was easily exacerbated. While employed as a policeman, he was given several rounds of treatment for his symptoms.

According to the family, Kausar ‘did not use drugs’ and there were ‘no major family problems’.

Kausar’s wife Sathi says, “He was speaking to me less than usual for the past four to five days. Sometimes, when he was affected by his mental illness, he would become like this. He has been taken to a hospital in Pabna for treatment several times. My husband has the documentation regarding his care.”

“We don’t have any family issues, but he would contact us less frequently when suffering from mental illness.”

Kausar’s mother Mabia Khatun said, “My son is a good person, but he has mental issues. He became sick several years after he started work. I last spoke to him on Saturday. He spoke well. He asked ‘Ma, how are you? How is dad?’. But he has been speaking a bit less to people at home for a few days.”

A neighbour of the family and former Daulatpur Sadar Union chairman Golam Mostafa said Kausar was not a drug addict, but he had a mental illness.

“About five years after he started work, he started developing a mental illness. He returned to work after he was given treatment and recovered.”

It is not yet clear why Kausar opened fire on his co-worker. The police remand petition mentions that Monirul had argued about being on duty with Kausar around 11:45am. Kausar grew agitated at one point and opened fire.

A police report claims that Monirul’s body was shot randomly. There were multiple bullet wounds on the left side of his head. There were also wounds on his left eye, left arm, right elbow, various parts from below the neck to the waist, the chest, abdomen, and back.

Majharul Islam, chief of Gulshan Police Station, stated that Constable Kausar fired 38 bullets using a Taurus SMT submachine gun.

“Each magazine has 30 rounds of bullets. After one magazine was emptied, another magazine was loaded into the weapon and eight more rounds were fired. Twenty-two fresh bullets were recovered from the second magazine.”

The incident was captured that night by a closed-circuit camera from the other side of the road. The footage shows Monirul Islam standing with a weapon on the footpath next to the guard room. Sometime later, Kausar emerges from inside.

Monirul then came towards Kausar and spoke to him while still at a distance. Then Kausar went back inside and Monirul continued to stand on the footpath.

Monirul and Kausar spoke again when the glass on the guard room window was moved aside. Monirul was then seen moving his hands. He then came closer to the guardroom and, a few seconds later, the sound of gunfire breaks out inside.

Monirul immediately falls from the footpath onto the road and tries to get up again. But Kausar ran out, saw him and fired haphazardly. After that, Monirul’s body grew still.

After confirming that Monirul was dead, Kausar picked up Monirul’s rifle and struck it against a wall nearby.

He then left the weapon on the footpath, fiddled with his own weapon and put it on his shoulder. Then he went close to the body and watched it for some time from the footpath.

Asked how Kausar was allowed to remain on duty if he had a mental illness, Majharul said: “We did not have any information that he had a mental illness. The family has not yet been able to present evidence of this claim.”