'Unnamed accused' BNP's new worry

BNP data on police cases filed against its leaders and activists in about five weeks reveal a surprising number of unidentified accused, making the party extremely worried about its grassroots ahead of the upcoming parliamentary polls.

The data show police filed 4,126 cases against 85,000 BNP men across the country between September 1 and October 8. Around three lakh unidentified people were also accused in those cases.

For example, a case was lodged with the capital's New Market Police Station on September 30 naming five people as accused for what police said was throwing brickbats at them and obstructing their work. In that case, around 150 to 200 unidentified people were also made accused.   

The BNP believes so many unidentified people -- over three times the named accused -- have been sued recently only to harass and arrest its lower-tier leaders and activists and thwart their election preparation.

In some of the cases, even the number of the unidentified accused was not mentioned.

For example, a case was filed against 40 BNP men with Jatrabari Police Station on September 30 on charges of creating panic among people and vandalising public vehicles. In the case document, police said many unidentified people joined hands with those BNP men to commit the offences.

In another case, filed with Hazaribagh police on the same day, police charged 48 named and many unknown people, mostly BNP men, with attacking the law enforcers and obstructing them from doing their job.

All these cases were filed after the BNP held two rallies -- one on September 1 in front of its central office in Nayapaltan marking its founding anniversary and the other on September 30 at the Suhrawardy Udyan. 

The highest number of cases (77) was filed in Barishal, followed by Satkhira (75) and Bhola (72), the data show.

This newspaper has investigated 10 of the cases filed on and after September 30 in the capital. The Daily Star correspondents visited 10 spots which were mentioned as the place of occurrence in the cases. They talked to dozens of locals who said no untoward incident had taken place in those areas on the dates stated in the case documents.

In some cases, police charged dead and elderly people as well as individuals living abroad with the “offences” along with BNP leaders and activists. The law enforcers have drawn huge flak from different quarters over the issue.

The recent cases were labelled as ghostly cases.

Contacted, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said, “I have heard that some cases were filed against BNP men but [I] don't know about the number. I have to check it. 

"Usually when there is a riot or a big political chaos, many people remain unknown at that time. So, they were included in the case(s) as unnamed,” he told The Daily Star yesterday as his attention was drawn to the "ghostly cases" and the large number of unidentified accused.

In the last one month, there has been no major violent agitation from the BNP or any other political parties. Still, the cases were filed one after another.

Former inspector general of police Noor Mohammad thinks there are two aspects of the issue -- one legal and the other political.

On the legal aspect, he said, police file cases against unknown people when they cannot identify all the accused. During the investigation, those unknown people are traced and included in the case.

"The other reason is political. In the culture of Bangladesh politics, when there is a crisis or a political turmoil, we see that thousands are made unnamed accused," said the former police chief.

"It has become a culture of our politics. The opposition becomes victim of such cases. I don't see any way out. To come out from this culture, we need to wait for some miracle …”

In a statement on Thursday, Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said the activities by a section of police were a worrying example of a fall in their professional standards.

The new cases, in addition to the cases filed earlier against the BNP leaders and activists, appear as a threat to the party ahead of the general election.

According to another compilation of data by the BNP central office, as many as 90,000 cases were filed against its 25,70,000 leaders and activists across the country till the first week of this month since 2009.

Of them, a large number of cases were, however, filed in between 2012 and 2013 and in January 2014 when the BNP-led alliance took to the street enforcing hartals demanding restoration of the caretaker government system scrapped by the government in 2011. The street agitation turned violent in many areas.

Again, some cases were filed against BNP men in the first three months of 2015 when the party enforced around three months of countrywide blockade which turned violent.

In those cases filed since 2012, many BNP senior and grassroots leaders were arrested and put behind bars. Many are still in jail. Many accused in the cases went into hiding.

Talking about the new cases, BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed alleged that the main intention behind the cases was to suppress opposition leaders and activists.

"The more the unnamed accused, the more are the chances of arresting opposition men. Police can arrest whoever it likes,” he told The Daily Star yesterday.

He further alleged the government was doing that for keeping the BNP away from the election race.

"Before the election, thousands of leaders may be shown arrested in those unnamed cases,” he added. 

Talking to this newspaper yesterday, BNP Legal Affairs Secretary Sanaullah Mia said they were spending busy time at the courts seeking bail for the party leaders accused in “false” cases.

He said, “We have asked the district leaders to seek bail in their respective courts [in districts]. If anyone is denied bail in a lower court, we are helping that person secure bail from the High Court.”