A number of sensational crimes have been committed in the recent days allegedly with the direct involvement of some members of law enforcing agencies, including the elite force — Rapid Action Battalion [RAB].In the latest incident, an abducted gold trader of Chittagong Mridul Kumar Chowdhury after his release on Monday alleged that his kidnapping is linked to a case filed against a RAB -2 official, Major Rafiqul Amin, over snatching 80 tolas of gold in December last year.Another sensational crime was unearthed at Savar on Sunday where allegation has been raised about the linkage between the criminal gang and some current and former members of the Army, RAB and police. “Allegations may be raised against any member of the law enforcing agencies when they are on duty at field level. Allegation against the RAB official in the abduction incident of the Chittagong gold trader is now under investigation. But none can be held guilty before the inquiry,” Md Mokhlesur Rahman, Director General of RAB, told The New Nation yesterday. In another sensational incident, a commanding officer of RAB -7 Lt Col Zulfiqar Ali Majumder and some of his fellows were arrested on May 4, 2012 in connection with the looting incident of Tk. 2 crore from Talsara Darbar Sharif at Anwara in Chittagong in November 2011. Although Zulfiqar Ali was withdrawn from RAB and dismissed from the Army recently, the investigation of the case is yet to be completed. Mysteriously, the investigating officer Air Force Squadron Leader Mamunur Rashid was also found dead in Silver Inn Hotel in Chittagong on April 5, 2012.. “The incident of Chittagong shrine looting is a criminal case. We are now investigating the matter. We have already fired the accused official from the force. You better ask the Chittgaong administration about the progress of investigation,” said the DG RAB. Apart from involvement in crimes, the law enforcement agencies, particularly the RAB, have again drawn attention for alleged extra judicial killings — one man in every 24 hours. Contrary, the RAB DG said: There is not a single incident of extra judicial killing in the country.Meanwhile, there are several incidents of crime where members of police department have been found involved -from city to district level. DC of Detective Branch [north] of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Molla Nazrul Islam was transferred to protection battalion after an allegation that he took Tk 1 crore in bribes from a businessman. The allegation was made by Kabirul Haque Mukti, ex-lawmaker of Narail-1. The video of the transaction was produced to higher police authority as evidence. Later, the Anti-Corruption Commission [ACC] also conducted an inquiry into the matter. But no action has yet been taken.”Corruption is widespread in the police department. They were found involved with all kinds of crime, including drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion, robbery and abduction,” a senior police official said requesting anonymity.About involvement of police in hard-core crimes, the police official said, “The main targets of these corrupt law enforcers are gold businessmen and foreign currency traders. Especially, they target the smugglers and ‘hundi’ businessmen. It just happened in Savar incident.”
