A Dhaka court has ordered the Bangladesh Police to take appropriate disciplinary measures, following a probe, against Investigating Officer (IO) Omar Faruk for failing to properly verify July Warrior and a lawsuit defendant Tahrima Jannat Surovi’s age.

Omar Faruk had to use valid documents to determine Surovi’s age and not rely on anyone’s verbal remarks, the court said.

On Thursday afternoon, Senior Judicial Magistrate Syed Fazlul Mahdi issued the order following a hearing in the extortion case, allegedly filed to humiliate Surovi.

Surovi’s age has been mentioned as 21 years in the first information report, but her family and other July Uprising participants claim she is only 17 years old.

The police deliberately increased Surovi’s age so that they can try her at a regular court, and put her on remand, allege activists of Students Against Discrimination (SAD).

According to court filings, on Monday, Omar Faruk, also sub-inspector at Kaliakoir Model Police Station, explained his “mistake” in writing Surovi’s age. According to Faruk, Surovi herself confessed her age was 20 years in preliminary questioning.

Faruk relied solely on Surovi’s verbal remark and did not take the trouble to verify the age using official records, the police officer said. He admitted his mistake and sought apology.

Nonetheless, the court ordered disciplinary action against him for ignoring crucial duties to the state.