A 25-year-old RMG worker in Lalmonirhat allegedly died in police custody on Thursday night.
Agitated locals blocked the Lalmonirhat-Rangpur Highway halting traffic on the busy road on Friday, after the family of the deceased accused the police of torture.
The deceased have been identified as Robiul Islam Khan, son of Dulal Khan of Kazir Chowra village of the Sadar upazila.
Robiul and another man were arrested on charges of gambling at a fair in the Mahendranagar Bangla Bazar area on the occasion of Pohela Boishakh, according to family.
Robiul had an altercation with some cops while being dragged into a police van. He was insisting that he was innocent, they claimed.
"He was badly beaten up by the cops for refusing to enter the police van. He had sustained injuries, which eventually led to his death," said a family member of the deceased.
However, the Additional Superintendent of Police Rabiul Islam (ASP) of Lalmonirhat police station denied the allegation of custodial torture.
"The two people were arrested by a police team from the fair on a tip-off. But Robiul fell sick on the way to the police station, and he was soon rushed to Sadar Hospital. He died while being shifted to Rangpur Medical College and Hospital,” he said.
As the news of the death spread, the agitated locals blocked the Lalmonirhat-Rangpur Highway in the early hours of Friday and demanded the punishment of a sub-inspector at Lalmonirhat Sadar police station.
The locals also vandalized a police van when some cops reached the spot to pacify the crowd. The situation came under control after the cops assured the public of a proper probe into Robiul’s death.
When contacted, Shah Alam, officer-in-charge of Lalmonirhat Sadar police station, said: "We are waiting for the autopsy report of the deceased."
