The High Court (HC) has directed the Home Ministry for taking immediate steps to arrest three RAB officials who had been sent to force retirement from their services following allegations of their involvement in seven abductions and killings in Narayanganj. The Home Secretary has been asked to comply with the order immediately.A HC bench comprising Justice Mirza Hossain Haider and Justice Khurshid Alam Sarker passed the order on Sunday afternoon in response to a writ petition.The writ petition was filed by Mahfuzur Rahman Ismail, president of Amra Narayanganjbashi, Sakhawat Hossain, President of Narayanganj District Bar Association and Bijoy Kumar Pal, son-in-law of advocate Chandan Sarker, one of the seven victims who were abducted from Narayanganj Court area on April 27 and later killed.Dr Kamal Hossain moved the writ petition on behalf of the petitioners. According to the order, the three RAB officials are to be arrested under any case against them with specific allegation, if there is no such allegation; they are to be arrested under section 54 of criminal proceedings as suspected. Former Commanding Officer (CO) of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-11 Tareq Sayeed Mohammad and two other officers – Major Arif and Lt Commander Rana – have been sent to forced retirement following allegations of their involvement in the abductions and killings of seven people in Narayanganj, including City Corporation’s panel mayor Nazrul Islam.Narayanganj panel mayor and ward councillor Nazrul Islam, his four aides, senior lawyer Chandan Sarker and his driver were abducted on April 27. Six bodies, including that of Nazrul and Chandan, were found floating in the Shitalakkhya river three days later. Another body was found the following day.Nazrul’s father-in-law alleged that the RAB abducted and killed Nazrul and six others in exchange of Tk 6 crore. Meanwhile, State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan yesterday said that action will be taken against the three dismissed RAB officials after getting the High Court Order.Turning to Dr Kamal’s move, Asaduzzaman questioned the necessity of the writ. “A high-powered probe committee has already been formed to look into the seven murders. He (Kamal) is a senior and respected lawyer. I don’t know whether there’s any logic behind filing the writ. He could have provided information to the probe committee.”He also said those who were involved in the killing will not be spared. “We’ll bring them to book no matter what. We’ll do whatever necessary.”Asaduzzaman Khan also observed that if the three former RAB officials had been careful then the incident would not happen.
