Joynal Abedin Khan : A good number of Police personnel have been found involved with various crimes like killing, kidnapping, extorting, raping, grabbing, bribing, drug smuggling and human trafficking. Some of them are connected with national and international crime syndicates, specially drug business, human trafficking, and departmental promotion and recruit business. Besides some Police men are earning much more money illegally in the name of arresting the BNP-Jammat men and drug peddlers, intelligence source said.Some unscrupulous police members have been grabbing land and business institutions under threat, they said.Police stations and patrolling teams take extortion from shops and other businessmen in their territories across the country, Police Headquarters sources said. Data of the Police Headquarters also shows that the number of complaints against officials ranging from superintendents to constables have been on the rise, despite repeated warnings issued by the home state minister, police chief and the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner against such incidents.Detective sources said, around 1000 accused police members faced legal action in last six months while the number was 14,400 in 2014 and 67820 in last five years.Even, at least 63,349 policemen from constable to SI faced punishment. Of them 3590 suffered major punishment and 461 were sacked from service and 123 were sent to force retirement in last five years.Besides, 234 Sub-Inspectors faced legal action, 207 for normal punishment and 27 for major punishment. At least 63 ASP to above faced action, 47 for normal offence and 12 for major offence, and one of them lost his job and three were sent to force retirement. Police Headquarters Security Cell data say they got around 6,000 complaints against officials of different tiers between January and May this year. Of those, complaints were filed against 5,566 police officers, 28 were arrested red-handed while committing crimes across the country. So far, the Police Headquarters have taken action against 787 officials. Of them, 57 were sacked or sent to forced retirement. Probe against the remaining accused is under way.Police headquarters’ another statistics showed that around 15,000 policemen had been handed punishment in 2014. Over 5,000 personnel have been given punishment so far in 2015 and many cases are in process.Of them, around 2,400 policemen were handed severe punishment ranging from suspension of promotion to dismissal.On June 5, a judicial magistrate court on Sunday noon issued an arrest warrant against 10 people including Gaibandha Thana Officer-in-Charge (OC) Raziur Rahman over the beating of court employees.Earlier this morning, Chief Judicial Magistrate Court office assistant Komol Chowdhury filed the case against 10 persons, including Gaibandha Thana Officer-in-charge (OC) Raziur Rahman, Sonali Bank Limited Gaibandha Branch Manager Ayesh Uddin, district Detective Branch (DB) Sub-Inspector Raqib Hossain, Gaibandha Thana Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Ayub Hossain and constable Saddam Hossain.In Barisal, Deputy Commissioner (north) of Barisal Metropolitan Police, Zillur Rahman, was suspended on the charge of taking bribes from lower-tier officials assuring them of promotion.Later in the day, 10 other officers were suspended. The Police Headquarters took the decision as per recommendation of the IGP since the allegation against him was proved. The “discipline and professional standard unit” of the police conducted the departmental inquiry.On June 28, two sub-inspectors of Pallabi police station and 16 others were sued over extortion charges.On June 21, an assistant sub-inspector of police’s Special Branch, Mahfuzur Rahman, was arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion with 6.80 lakh yaba tablets from Feni. In interrogation, he confessed that 14 other police officials were also involved with the drug business.Last week, the OC of Cox’s Bazar Detective Branch (DB) of police was closed to the DIG office and 10 others were transferred for their suspected involvement in yaba smuggling and human trafficking.Recently, an intelligence agency recommended action against 24 police officers for their involvement in human trafficking.A number of police officers were sued in the recent times for collecting money from people under duress, mainly businessmen, following abduction. Some of the victims were killed while others released.On May 27, an officer-in-charge and a sub-inspector of Rangunia police station were sued for destroying evidence of rape of a minor girl and harassing the victim’s family members.Few days ago, officials at Turag, Gulshan and Bhatara police stations refused to register a rape case when the victim, a Garo woman, and her family members went there. Later the High Court deplored the police’s behaviour and ordered that no victim faces such discrimination and negligence in the future.On May 11, SI Kalimur Rahman and his cohorts raped a female police constable at his house in the capital. He was later arrested from Cox’s Bazar area and eventually lost his job.On May 4, Shyamol Dutta, an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of the city’s Shahbag Police Station was wthdrawn on charge of extortion money from a Dhaka University student, said Shahbag Police Station Officer in-charge Abu Bakr Siddique. Earlier, some Dhaka University students detained Shyamol when he was treating a DU student to extort Tk 50,000.In February, the then DMP Mohammadpur zone Assistant Commissioner Rajibul Hasan kidnapped a 17-year-old girl and kept her confined in his house for two months.The victim’s family filed a case with Kafrul Police Station and approached RAB-4 for help. When the incident was disclosed in April, Rajibul had been attached to Tejgaon deputy commissioner’s office.When contacted, State Minister of Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said no one would be spared of the charges if proved correct. “We will take action against the guilty as per laws of the country.”AKM Shahidul Haque, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) said that they had taken ‘zero tolerance’ theory against the corrupt police personnel. “If anyone is found involved with crimes, the person will not be treated as police official.” “Legal and departmental action will follow,” he said.Asaduzzaman Miah, the DMP Commissioner, issued a letter recently saying he had evidence that many police officials were engaged in crimes like narcotics trade and kidnapping for money. He warned of stern action against the errant personnel if they continued such activities.
