New Delhi: Proloy Chaki, musician and a Hindu leader of the Awami League in Bangladesh, died late Sunday while in police custody. The 60-year-old’s death has sparked allegations from his family that the jail authorities failed to provide him adequate medical care.
Chaki served as the cultural affairs secretary of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League in Pabna district. He had been detained last month on 16 December from his residence in the Pathartala area of Pabna, and later formally shown as arrested in a case linked to an explosion incident on 4 August, 2024 during the July protests, The Daily Star reported.
According to jail officials quoted in local media reports, Chaki died at around 9.15 pm Sunday while undergoing treatment at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital, where he had been transferred from Pabna District Jail following a medical emergency.
Md. Omar Faruk, the superintendent of Pabna District Jail, said that Chaki was suffering from multiple pre-existing conditions, including diabetes. He suffered a stroke Friday morning, and was initially taken to a hospital in Pabna before being shifted to Rajshahi for more advanced care.
Jail authorities rejected accusations of wrongdoing, saying that proper procedures were followed. Chaki’s family has, however, alleged serious lapses in medical care. His son, Sani Chaki, was quoted in local reports as saying that his father was a heart patient, but was not placed in a coronary care unit after he fell ill. He added that Chaki was kept in a prisoner cell at the hospital.
“He was not given the necessary treatment, and his condition kept deteriorating. The jail authorities did not even inform the family about his illness. He died due to sheer negligence,” Sani told Bangladesh’s The Business Standard.
Chaki was a prominent cultural activist in the 1990s, according to reports.
No independent inquiry has yet been announced into the circumstances surrounding his death. Human rights groups in Bangladesh have repeatedly called for greater transparency and accountability in custodial deaths, especially in cases involving political activists.
According to Odhikar, a prominent human rights organisation in Bangladesh, from 9 August, 2024 to June 2025—with the interim government in place—29 cases of mob violence, 61 deaths in jail, and 6,390 incidents of political violence were reported. These political violence cases include individuals who were injured, assaulted, attacked, threatened, or sued.
The report released last year said that the victims died after being shot, tortured in custody or beaten to death—practices that human rights monitors have described as bearing similarity to the ousted Hasina government’s rule. Those killed included political activists, detainees held without warrants, individuals accused of criminal activity, and civilians caught up in security operations.
The rights body noted, “The interim Bangladesh government of Mohammed Yunus is falling short in implementing its challenging human rights agenda”.
The report further noted that between August and September of 2024, police filed criminal cases against 92,486 people, including many for murder. Nearly 400 former Awami League ministers and officials were named in more than 1,170 cases, many of which included vague or unnamed suspects.
In February last year, Muhammad Yunus’s interim administration had launched “Operation Devil Hunt”, a sweeping campaign that led to over 8,600 arrests. Most of those detained were believed to be Awami League supporters. Many others were arrested under the Special Powers Act, a draconian law allowing preventive detention without trial.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
Also Read: BNP activist shot dead in Bangladesh in 2nd major attack on party as pre-poll violence rages on