The speakers at a human chain organised by the Sammilita Krira Paribar, yesterday also demanded an apology from the state minister for home and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner for giving false statement, and punishment for the policemen responsible.

"It is not only a matter of shame that the state minister and DMP commissioner supported the brutal deeds of the policemen, but they also gave false statements to hide the truth," said a speaker at a protest really yesterday.

Protesting the police atrocities, the sportsmen of the body held an hour-long human chain at Muktangon in the capital where present and former sportsmen and officials of football, cricket, volleyball and hockey teams expressed solidarity with the shooters.

Citing instances, the speakers said the sportsmen, as well as the journalists are continuously becoming the victims of police atrocities and none of the culprits were tried. This make them feel insecure, they said.

"It is the sportsmen who bring fame and honour for the country. The government not only shown disrespect for them but also broke their confidence in taking the country ahead," said a speaker, adding, "It is the state minister who should be tried."

The speakers expressed surprise and blasted the state minister for sports for not visiting the injured sportsmen.

The speakers also asked the government to withdraw the false case filed against the shooters and employees of the National Shooting Federation (NFS) and to bear the cost of their treatment and, if required, send them abroad for better treatment.

Meanwhile, NFS said they would file a case on Sunday.

"We have finished preparing all the papers except the medical certificates," NSF General Secretary Nazimuddin Chowdhury told The Daily Star yesterday.

Attending doctors to the injured shooters yesterday said, "The injuries are bad," adding that the shooters are still unable to walk and need help to go to the washrooms.

Asked if they need to be taken abroad, a physician said, "Even after the primary cure, they need sophisticated physiotherapy and rehabilitation which the country lacks."

THE SHOOTERS' VERSION

Asif and the other shooters, who became victims and witnessed Monday's police atrocities, gave conflicting versions of what the police and the state minister for home had said.

Asif said he had just finished his practice and was packing his gear along with the fellow shooters when the chaos started at the NFS complex gate.

"Someone rushed there and informed Shoyeb [Coach Shoyebuzzaman] that police have arrested Jahangir [cook]," Asif told The Daily Star.

Jahangir was returning to the complex with groceries when police held him, said another shooter Abul Bashar, attending a shooting camp.

Shoyeb rushed to the gate to talk to the on-duty police official for his release, while Asif and several others followed him.

Shoyeb was trying to convince the police official [whom Asif could not name] to come inside and talk when a number of policemen attacked him from behind, Asif said.

"Several of us were locked into a scuffle with the policemen as we were trying to save Shoyeb," he said, adding, "Shoyeb and the rest of us ran upstairs after we managed to save him from the beating." The guards closed the gate after that, he added.

Jumping over the walls, the policemen then entered the complex and started beating mercilessly, Asif said.

"I tried to stop them from going upstairs but they [policemen] had loaded guns and they threatened that they would shoot me if I didn't move away," said another shooter Haider Ali.

The policemen held Shoyeb and Asif upstairs and beat him up severely, and tore off his clothes, said Noor Alam, another shooter. "If anyone tries to go near him, we will fire," said Alam quoting policemen.

"Beat them hard in the legs so that they can't stand and walk anymore," Abul Bashar said quoting another policeman.

The policemen stormed into every section inside the building including the dormitories and beat up everyone they found. They also broke the lock of the female dorms and tried to enter, witnesses said.

Taking them to the police station, the police locked them up in a locker and after taking their names and addresses, they attacked them once again, Asif said.

"They made us lie down and beat with sticks and iron rods almost for half an hour," said Asif, "At one point someone handed them hockey sticks which they used on Shoyeb."

Around 10 to 12 people, three in uniform, beat the sportsmen and the employees. "They intentionally beat us under the feet so that we can't stand, and on the elbow so that holding rifles for shooting becomes difficult," he added.