The office of police superintendent of Narayanganj district on Monday received a copy of the High Court order for arresting three sacked officers of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). Narayanganj police is expected to arrest the RAB officers anytime, police sources said. The Police Headquarters in Dhaka in the morning sent the copy of the order. The Police Headquarters received the High Court order through fax on Sunday night, told Additional Inspector General of Police (Media) Jalaluddin Ahmed Chowdhury to the media.The HC in its rule directed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to arrest the three RAB officers as soon as he received the order. The Court said the trio should be arrested under Section 54 even if no charges were found against them under the penal code or other Acts.The three RAB officers–Lt Col Tarek Sayeed Mahmud, Major Arif Hossain and naval officer Lt Commander MM Rana– have already been sent to force retirement following allegation of their involvement in the killing of seven people, including Narayanganj panel mayor Nazrul Islam and senior advocate Chandan Kumar Sarkar. Police Superintendent (SP) of Narayanganj Khandakar Muhid Uddin confirmed to the New Nation yesterday that said that they received a copy of the Court order on Monday noon sent by the Police Headquarters. “We are working on the legal process to comply with the High Court order,” he added.When asked, he refused to say anything about the drive of arresting the former Rab officers. Earlier, the High Court on Sunday 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 has passed the order on Sunday afternoon in response to a writ petition.On May 5, the HC bench issued a suo moto rule asking the government to form a seven-member committee to investigate the allegation that Rab personnel were involved in the killing of Narayanganj panel mayor Nazrul Islam and six others. On April 27, Narayanganj panel mayor Nazrul Islam and his three associates and driver were abducted from Fatullah area in Narayanganj city. Hours into their abduction, senior lawyer of the Narayanganj District Judge’s Court, Chandan Kumar Sarker, and his driver were abducted while they were going to Dhaka.Three days after their abduction, the bodies of six people, including Nazrul and Chandan, were recovered from the Shitalakhya and Dhaleshwari rivers on April 30. Besides, the body of Jahangir, the car driver of Nazrul Islam, was recovered from the Shitalakhya River on May 1.Meanwhile, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said yesterday that the three former RAB officials, who were sent into retirement following allegations of their link with the gruesome abduction and killing of seven persons in Narayanganj, will be arrested anytime, the state minister for home said today.”The procedure to arrest the three Rab men is underway. We are complying with the High Court directive on arresting the Rab men,” Kamal told journalists at his Secretariat office yesterday. He further said, the three are under constant surveillance and the arrest would be made “anytime” following due legal procedures.
