Rajshahi policemen are increasingly engaging in crimes, a trend being encouraged by the negligence of the commanding officers, said law enforcers investigating such crimes.
Around 13 policemen of Rajshahi district and Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) has been suspended from August till date on charges including extortion, drug trade and even assault on female officers.
A recent probe into the alleged assault of a female constable revealed that a Superintendent of Police (SP) granted leave to the accused though he was scheduled to appear the next day before the officer investigating the case.
The constable of Rajshahi district Detective Branch (DB) filed the complaint with Rajshahi Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Siddiqur Rahman on March 12, the same day the assault took place.
In the complaint statement, she said DB Sub Inspector (SI) Shafikur Rahman Mridha, who had been harassing her for the past one month, tried to violate her in the office.
She feared that SP SM Rokon Uddin would ignore her complaints as he had done so over previous complaints of four female constables, for he and the SI were on good terms, said the complainant.
The SI was suspended that very day and Additional DIG Nibash Chandra Majhi, investigating the allegation, on March 13, asked the accused and the complainant to appear before him on March 14.
But the SP granted the SI medical leave on March 13 though he knew the accused was scheduled to appear before the additional DIG the next day.
The SI went to Dhaka to try to influence the higher authorities in his favour, fears the complainant.
SP Rokon defended his actions, saying that he had no other option as doctors at Rajshahi Police Hospital had referred the SI to a hospital in Dhaka for the treatment of “severe chest pains”.
On why the SI was not taken to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital which has a unit specialising in such health ailments, SP Rokon said, “It is a matter for the doctors.”
“Besides, it is good that he went to Dhaka. Otherwise, he would have tried to influence the witnesses and the investigation,” he added.
On the allegation of ignoring the complaints of female constables, he said, “I did not get any (complaint).”
When Additional DIG Nibash was asked what they would do over the allegations against the SP, he said the matter was still under investigation.
Another crime came to light on March 2 when a narcotics control taskforce arrested three RMP DB constables carrying 954 bottles of smuggled Indian phensidyl from a drug trading spot in Rajpara area of Rajshahi. A case was later filed.
The three had seized the bottles from Tangon, a drug-smuggling zone under Motihar Police Station, in a raid and, instead of going to DB office, were taking them to the drug trading spot.
However, a Special Branch (SB) report following the incident held Tofazzal Hossain, officer-in-charge (OC) of DB, responsible for it.
Tofazzal had taken verbal permission from SB Assistant Commissioner M Rokonuzzaman to carry out the raid but did not provide any update on the outcome.
The four were suspended after Tofazzal presented a false command certificate and the constables revealed that he had ordered the sale of the drugs.
In another incident, an RMP assistant commissioner, Towfiqul Islam, and seven other police personnel were arrested at the Police Lines on August 22, 2011, hours after an extortion case had been filed against them.
A doctor, Rafiq Basunia, had filed a complaint against the policemen five days earlier, stating that the policemen realised Tk 1 lakh from him after threatening to harass him over false accusations of illegally storing Indian garlic.
RMP Commissioner M Obaidullah said, “Judgment in the departmental cases will be given after the court judgements in both the cases.”