CID official involved in robbing migrant worker, DB investigation finds

A CID official led a gang to rob a migrant worker going to Dubai last October.

This came up in an investigation by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch (DB).

The incident came to light after a phone call was leaked yesterday, allegedly containing negotiations between the family of the disgraced CID official and the investigators, vying for the culprit to be let off the hook.

Additional Commissioner (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, AKM Hafiz Akter, told The Daily Star that there was a highway robbery near Kawla in the capital last October.

The victim was Md Roman, who lost Tk 4.78 lakh in the robbery. He filed a robbery case with the Airport Police Station the next day. "Later, in our investigation, we found that six people including a sub-inspector of CID, Aksaduzzaman, were involved in this robbery and looting," said Akter.

Hafiz Akhter said several incidents of robbery were happening all over Dhaka in recent times, and claims were made that CID officials were involved.

"But we had failed to identity those involved in the robbery. Finally, we could track down the ring following the incident at Kawla and found the involvement of a CID sub-inspector," he said.

Aksaduzzaman faced departmental action, and was fired from his job, said the police official.

"Our investigation is at the final stage and the charge sheet will be submitted soon," Aktersaid, adding two arrestees have already given their confessional statement.

In the leaked phone call, which The Daily Star has heard, that took place allegedly between Aksaduzzaman's wife Tahmina Akhter and "a senior police official", the wife tried to bribe the "official" to let her husband off the hook.

She kept alleging that she gave Tk 1.28 crore to a certain senior law enforcement official and that she had personally given Tk 14 lakh to the person with whom she was conversing.

"We will investigate the phone call to see whether these claims are true," said Additional Commissioner Akter when asked to comment on the allegation of bribery.

"As the process of submitting the charge sheet is at the final stage, the accused are trying desperately to stop this process," he added.