Make cops stop 'arrest business'

Bangladesh Bar Council Vice Chairman Khandker Mahbub Hossain yesterday demanded that the government takes steps to stop police from doing "arrest business".
He also urged the chief justice to constitute more High Court benches for disposing of the anticipatory bail petitions. He made the demand at a press conference at the bar council auditorium.
Mahbub said cases are being filed against political leaders and activists across the country, and police are arresting people whose names are not even mentioned in the cases.
He alleged that police are doing "arrest business” demanding money by threatening people of arresting them in those cases. Such people are coming to the HC for anticipatory bails, he added.
AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association, told reporters that around seven lakh political leaders and activists have been made accused in the cases before and after the January 5 parliamentary elections.      
After the press conference, Khandker Mahbub, also the BNP chairperson's adviser, told The Daily Star that there are only three HC benches for hearing and disposing of the bail petitions, but all of them don't deal with such applications.