bdnews24.com :
Built to tackle terror, nearly 2,000 members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) itself have been punished for committing crimes in the last 10 years, most of whom came from the military.
The elite force was introduced in 2004 during the BNP-led alliance government’s tenure to fight domestic crimes and terrorism.
A huge number of the penalised officers came from the armed forces.
The three officials accused of having ties to the abduction and murder of seven men including Councillor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarkar in Narayanganj, are also from the armed forces.
Two of them were army officers while the other was naval officer who all have already lost their job. The RAB is also investigating them.
According to RAB, 1,949 of its officers have faced punishment for different crimes since the force’s inception. This means 16 RAB members are committing crimes on average every month.
Currently, RAB has nearly 9,000 officers. Of them, 44 percent have come from the police, 44 percent from the army, navy and air force and 12 percent have been drawn from Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Ansar and VDP,
Coastguards and other law-enforcing agencies. According to the elite force, until May 6 this year, 729 RAB members who came from the army were punished for committing crimes. The number was 54 for the navy and 62 for the air force.
Apart from them, 817 members who faced punishment too were from police, 206 from BGB and 81 were from Ansar. The first-ever crime committed by RAB personnel came into light after five months into its coming into existence.
Three officers were caught after snatching nearly Tk 300,000 from a cattle trader on Aug 23, 2004 in Dhaka. The trio, however, immediately faced departmental action.
Initially, the force was ‘lauded’ by certain quarters for its role in tackling the law and order situation, but was criticised by the human-rights organisations for extrajudicial killings like ‘crossfire’ and other criminal activities.
“RAB is a disciplined force. Those who face allegation are probed and measures are taken against if found guilty. No one is spared,” RAB spokesperson Habibur Rahman told bdnews24.com.
After allegations surfaced that RAB officers were linked to the Narayanganj incident, the force’s Director General Mokhlesur Rahman told a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on home ministry that they would not try to shield anyone.
Built to tackle terror, nearly 2,000 members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) itself have been punished for committing crimes in the last 10 years, most of whom came from the military.
The elite force was introduced in 2004 during the BNP-led alliance government’s tenure to fight domestic crimes and terrorism.
A huge number of the penalised officers came from the armed forces.
The three officials accused of having ties to the abduction and murder of seven men including Councillor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarkar in Narayanganj, are also from the armed forces.
Two of them were army officers while the other was naval officer who all have already lost their job. The RAB is also investigating them.
According to RAB, 1,949 of its officers have faced punishment for different crimes since the force’s inception. This means 16 RAB members are committing crimes on average every month.
Currently, RAB has nearly 9,000 officers. Of them, 44 percent have come from the police, 44 percent from the army, navy and air force and 12 percent have been drawn from Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), Ansar and VDP,
Coastguards and other law-enforcing agencies. According to the elite force, until May 6 this year, 729 RAB members who came from the army were punished for committing crimes. The number was 54 for the navy and 62 for the air force.
Apart from them, 817 members who faced punishment too were from police, 206 from BGB and 81 were from Ansar. The first-ever crime committed by RAB personnel came into light after five months into its coming into existence.
Three officers were caught after snatching nearly Tk 300,000 from a cattle trader on Aug 23, 2004 in Dhaka. The trio, however, immediately faced departmental action.
Initially, the force was ‘lauded’ by certain quarters for its role in tackling the law and order situation, but was criticised by the human-rights organisations for extrajudicial killings like ‘crossfire’ and other criminal activities.
“RAB is a disciplined force. Those who face allegation are probed and measures are taken against if found guilty. No one is spared,” RAB spokesperson Habibur Rahman told bdnews24.com.
After allegations surfaced that RAB officers were linked to the Narayanganj incident, the force’s Director General Mokhlesur Rahman told a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on home ministry that they would not try to shield anyone.
