Extortion Case: Rab clears 8 students
Rab has cleared eight Mirpur students of any wrongdoing and said the complainant of the extortion case had delivered "incorrect information".
The students failed to speak up about the false accusation after being arrested, which lead to them being held for so long, claimed Rab-4 Sub-Inspector Monirul Islam, investigation officer of the case, in the final report submitted before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka on March 6 .
The charges are a "matter of factual error", the case investigation officer mentioned in his report.
The Rab IO also concluded that no evidence was found during investigation to support the accusation.
"The final report was prepared based on recommendations from Rab headquarters," Monirul told The Daily Star.
The development provided significant relief to the students, who had been subjected to unnecessary harassments over the last one year.
Expressing satisfaction, Nahidul Islam Nirob, one of the accused, yesterday, said, "We have suffered a lot financially, mentally, and socially for this case. Finally, the truth has prevailed."
He hoped that they would soon get back their belongings including motorbikes, mobiles, and laptops that were seized by Rab.
Jamsher Ali, a family member of two of the victims, said, "Since my innocent grandson and nephew were framed in this false case last year, they have been living in fear. Finally, they can now return to their lives."
On March 7 last year, a tea vendor Abdul Barek, 60, was injured after being hit by a teenager's motorcycle in the capital's Mirpur-12.
However, a case, filed over the incident three days later, told a different story that had no mention of the accident or the biker.
It instead accused five college students and three other teenagers, including two schoolchildren, from the same neighbourhood of beating and injuring Barek and extorting Tk 40,500 from him.
The accused included a 15-year-old son and a 17-year-old cousin of Mohon Mia, who allegedly fell victim to enforced disappearance at the hands of the same Rab unit.
Barek' son Nazmul Hossain Bappi, the plaintiff, earlier told The Daily Star that the case was drafted by Rab-4 and that he only signed the statement.
Names of the three teenagers were included in the case without his knowledge, he added.
He alleged that the elite force kept him and the five college students at Rab-4 office in Mirpur's Paikpara for around 24 hours before they were all taken to Pallabi Police Station for filing the already drafted case and the handover of the five accused to the police.
The police station recorded the case on March 10 last year.
The Daily Star did a thorough investigation of the incidents and published two reports in July and August last year revealing how a bike accident became an extortion case and how such actions by a Rab unit have forced a Mirpur family into never-ending distress.
On July 3, 2022, the Rab-4 took charge of the investigation.
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