Party's case against cops dismissed

A Dhaka court yesterday dismissed a case, three hours after it was filed by BNP against 502 policemen on charges of ransacking and looting valuables at BNP central office in the capital's Nayapaltan on Monday.
Metropolitan Magistrate Harun-ur-Rashid summarily rejected the case around 12:45pm citing that "there was no approval from the government which is needed for filing a case against any government official."
Asadul Karim Shahin, assistant office secretary of BNP, lodged the case with Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court naming two top police officials among 502 accused in the case.
The two cops are Mehedi Hassan, additional deputy commissioner (ADC- Motijheel) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, and Golam Sarwar, officer-in-charge of Paltan Police Station.
According to the case statement, Paltan police led by ADC Mehedi raided the BNP office without any prior notice; broke open the doors of different rooms and looted valuables and official documents. The law enforcers also vandalised windowpanes of the office.

During the raid, 12 homemade bombs were recovered on the third and fourth floors of the BNP headquarters, said police.
More than 200 BNP leaders and activists including its acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir were rounded up.
The office was raided after several homemade bombs had blasted near a rally of the BNP-led 18-party alliance at Nayapaltan.