Top criminal Subrata Bain held in secret Rab custody since 2022: commission
The second interim report of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances has revealed that top criminal Subrata Bain was held in Rab's Taskforce Interrogation (TFI) secret detention centre since 2022 and was released between August 6-7 last year.
The findings were submitted to the chief adviser yesterday, with portions of the report circulated by the Chief Adviser's Press Wing today.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Subrata Bain, listed on Interpol's "Most Wanted" list, has long been associated with crimes such as murder, extortion, and abduction. He was among Bangladesh's 23 most wanted fugitives in 2001 and had previously escaped from a Nepalese prison in 2012 by digging a tunnel.
Despite multiple arrests -- most notably in Kolkata -- he repeatedly secured bail and resumed criminal activities.
The report alleged that Subrata's detention was part of a secret prisoner exchange programme between Bangladeshi and Indian intelligence agencies.
"At the end of April 2022, Bain was handed over to Rab Intelligence Wing as part of a secret, illegal prisoner exchange programme operated between Indian and Bangladeshi intelligence agencies. In return for receiving Bain, Bangladesh, via Rab Intelligence Wing, handed over one of its own [a Bangladeshi] citizens, who had been kept imprisoned at the Taskforce Interrogation Cell, to its Indian counterpart," said the report.
The commission has been able to establish contact with the person who had been exchanged for Subrata Bain.
"We discovered that, after arriving in India, a case was filed against him and he served a jail term there before returning to Bangladesh. His presence in India was confirmed through Indian case documents he supplied to us," said the commission, referring to the person who had been exchanged for Subrata.
"Bain complained of being brought to Bangladesh on the 27th of Ramadan in 2022. This date matched the Indian case documents we reviewed, which confirmed the timeline of events," the report said.
"While being held at TFI, Bain developed a range of illnesses, including piles, but appeared resigned to having no contact with the outside world. Even officers who served at TFI reportedly avoided meeting him. Contrary to rumours circulating online, we have found no indication whatsoever that he received any form of training during his stay at TFI. Instead, he appears to have led a secluded life in captivity," said the report
Since his release, he has re-established his criminal network, secured a wealthy patron, and resumed carrying out contract killings, the report added.
Most recently, on May 27 this year, Subrata was apprehended by the Bangladesh Army in Kushtia, along with an associate.
"Orders to [illegally] detain someone of such high international notoriety could not have originated from within RAB alone. As far as we understand RAB's organisational culture, such a decision must have come from the very top of the civil administration -- at least from the level of the Home Minister, if not higher," the report said.
The commission also attempted to understand why Rab Intelligence had not executed Subrata while he was in captivity.
"It is unclear why Rab Intelligence kept Bain secretly imprisoned with no contact with the outside world for so long, particularly when they had eliminated captives for far lesser offences. We understand there were specific plans to eliminate him, but these did not materialise. It is our assessment that he simply ceased to be a priority once he was securely locked away in a TFI cell," the report added.
He was not formally charged because his illegal transfer from India complicated his legal status and made formal prosecution politically or diplomatically difficult, according to the report.
"What is clear, however, is that this level of secrecy, illegality, and informal manoeuvring has not strengthened Bangladesh's domestic security system. In fact, it has likely weakened it. That is the lasting lesson of this case. Enforced disappearance is so often defended in the name of national security when, in reality, it frequently undermines that very goal," it added.
6 more captives released since August 5
In addition to Subrata, the report revealed that six more captives were released after August 5 last year.
This is in addition to the three individuals who were released and have publicly come forward -- Brigadier General (Retd) Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, Barrister Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem (Arman), and indigenous rights activist Michael Chakma.
"From nearly the beginning of our work, the commission knew that more people had been released that night who had not come forward publicly," the report said.
Two of these released detainees were being held by the Directorate General Forces Intelligence (DGFI) while the rest were being held by Rab.
"Our information is that in those three days after August 5, at least one more person was released from Joint Interrogation Cell, in addition to the two who have come forward in the public domain. The other person who was being held by DGFI "was part of a cluster of detainees, all the rest of whom we have traced to DGFI-controlled sites", the report said.
"However, unlike others in that cluster, he appears to have been treated more specially or as a VIP, and therefore was kept separately in more comfortable facilities," it added.
Five including Subrata were released from Rab custody.
"From the TFI Cell, in addition to the one person who has come forward publicly (Arman), at least five others were released. We have some indication of who these unknown individuals are, although we have not yet established contact with them. It should be noted that, to the best of our knowledge, none of the families of these individuals lodged complaints with the Commission," the report said.
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