DB Probing Own Official: Independent body should do it
The Detective Branch of police will investigate a leaked phone call in which a former CID official's wife allegedly offered a "senior DB official" a bribe of Tk 1.42 crore so that her husband is absolved of a robbery.
After DB's announcement yesterday that it would investigate the call, rights defenders said such a probe by the DB to investigate allegations against its own officials would only create mistrust. Instead, they said, an independent body should probe it.
Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, Nur Khan Liton, a noted rights activist, said, "This is not the only case, such allegations are frequent nowadays. To restore trust among people, the allegation should be investigated by an independent body like the Anti-Corruption Commission or other agencies for a fair probe."
CID sub-inspector Aksaduzzaman was arrested on Wednesday morning, nearly 11 months after he was found involved in leading a gang to rob a migrant worker who was on his way to the Dhaka airport to go to Dubai.
On Tuesday, several media outlets including The Daily Star reported on the leaked phone call, containing negotiations allegedly between the family of the offending CID officer and a "high-ranked DB official".
The incident took place on October 19 last year, when migrant worker Md Roman lost different currencies worth Tk 4.78 lakh in the robbery near the capital's Kawla area, according to a robbery case the victim filed with the Airport Police Station against unnamed accused the next day.
Following investigation of the robbery case, the DB yesterday said they arrested Aksaduzzaman from Mithapukur area in Rangpur on Wednesday after he went into hiding. He was placed on a five-day remand yesterday.
In the leaked phone call, which The Daily Star has heard, a person identifying herself as the wife of the SI alleged that she gave Tk 1.28 crore to a certain senior DB official and that she personally gave Tk 14 lakh to DB's Additional Deputy Commissioner Kaysar Rizvi Korayshi.
When asked about the matter on Wednesday, Korayshi said the audio clip was fabricated and the man speaking on the phone was not him. He said the SI's wife had been requesting them to give Aksaduzzaman clearance, and that they were trying to frame Korayshi.
"An audio has been leaked. There is a conversation about hefty sums of money. In addition to investigating the case, we will look into all the issues -- where the money came from, whether any of our officials are involved -- so that merit of the case is not hampered," AKM Hafiz Akter, Additional Commissioner (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told a press briefing yesterday.
Asked why Aksaduzzaman's arrest came so late, the DB official said, "Aksaduzzaman was dismissed earlier. He was not accused in the case filed in connection with the robbery. His name came out later in our investigation. We needed some more information to arrest him. Besides all the accused in this incident have not been arrested yet."
The DB so far arrested seven people including the former CID officer and a former officer of a security force, in connection with the robbery.
The other six arrestees are -- Mosharraf Hossain, 45, Selim Mollah, 42, Ripon Morol, 55, Amir Hossain Talukder, 56, Rizu Mia Sikder, 25 and Hasan Raja, 38. Some of them are currently out on bail.
One of the arrestees and two witnesses gave statements before a Dhaka court under Section 164 at different times after the robbery case was filed.
One of the arrestees -- Amir Hossain Talukder, who is now out on bail, told The Daily Star that his wife had given Tk 16.5 lakh to Aksaduzzaman's wife to facilitate Amir's release.
"My brother sold a shop in Shariatpur and arranged the money. My wife gave the money to the CID officer's wife to get me released. When I wanted proof, she played a phone conversation between her and a DB official," Amir told The Daily Star.
Amir claimed that he was framed in the case.
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