A Bangladesh court jailed 11 policemen on Sunday on suspicion of carrying out an extrajudicial killing two years ago, court officials said, after an outcry from human rights groups.
It was the first time officers were jailed for a suspected extrajudicial killing in Bangladesh after calls from human rights organisations who accuse law enforcement agencies of killing at least 200 people in custody since January 2009.
The policemen surrendered following a summons over the killing, which took place in July, 2008. The officers will be formally charged on July 27, said a court official at Natore, 230 km (144 miles) north-west of the capital Dhaka. "We are happy that the suspects were sent to jail. We hope to get justice," lawyer Zahir Azad told reporters.
The bullet-riddled body of the suspect was found at a remote area near Natore four days after he had been arrested by police. Police said he had been killed in crossfire during a raid on a gangster hideout, but his family said he was killed in custody.
Hardly a day passes in Bangladesh without somebody being shot and killed in crossfire between criminals and law enforcement officers, newspapers and officials say.
One suspect died in police custody in eastern Brahmanbaria, 100 km (52 miles) from Dhaka, after being arrested on Saturday.
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