STAFF CORRESPONDENT

It would have been better to be killed by law enforcers in a “crossfire” than to be maimed, said a survivor of kneecapping as he recounted his experiences of torture at an event in the capital yesterday.

Samsul Alam Bulbul, who survived after being shot in both knees, had first thought that he was about to be shot to death, and passed off as a “crossfire” victim.

But what followed was years of excruciating pain, medical expenses of over Tk 60 lakh, a lifelong disability, and battling predatory cases.

He was speaking at a panel discussion titled “Kneecapping Democracy: Silencing Dissent by Crippling Bodies in Bangladesh”, organised by Sapran (Safeguarding All Lives) at Bishwo Shahitto Kendro.

Bulbul said police arrested him on August 30, 2014, from Kolaroa in Satkhira. “They first put me into an interrogation cell and started beating me indiscriminately on the legs until they were fractured.”

He said he was tied to a chair and beaten up for about two and a half hours straight on the legs. At one point, they blindfolded him and threw him into a police van.

“They took me to a place a few minutes later, and I felt myself being dragged out and dumped onto grass. I was sure that they would kill me right then and there,”

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