Sub-Inspector Anup Biswas was hospitalised for nearly two weeks after being hit in the head by a chunk of brick during the quota reforms protests in the capital’s Rampura on July 18.
Around one and a half months after the August 5 political changeover, Anup learnt that he was named in an attempted murder case filed on October 17 over the injury of a man during protests at Khilgaon on July 19, although the incident occurred when he was still incapacitated in hospital.
A colleague later informed him that he would have to pay Tk 1 lakh or face the risk of being implicated in a murder case.
Confident that he would be able to prove his innocence in any such cases, Anup decided not to pay.
“I was fighting for my life in the hospital, and then I found I was being accused of attempted murder,” Anup said. “How could I commit a crime when I was lying unconscious?”
He also said the first extortion attempt was only a “warm-up”. “This was only to show that they meant business.”
Anup says he was threatened with several murder cases after he refused to pay.
The Daily Star has learnt seven such incidents where policemen and others were extorted allegedly by police and local leaders of BNP.
Along with 179 other people, including 36 other police officers, Anup is accused of attempted murder of Ahadul Islam, 25, who was shot and injured during the protests.
Prominent Supreme Court lawyer ZI Khan Panna was also accused in the case, but his name was later dropped in the face of intense criticism.
Complainant Mohammad Baker, 52, father of victim Ahadul, used to sell vegetables in Banasree. When the controversy over Panna’s name in the case arose, Baker had told this newspaper over the phone that he did not know any of the accused.
“A lawyer named Jashim and some other people drafted the list. I just signed the first information report [FIR]. I wanted justice for my son. So, I sought their help to file the case,” he had said.
Baker had added he had no details of lawyer Jashim. Several attempts by this newspaper to reach the lawyer failed at that time.
Several other police officers accused in the case alleged that a section of their colleagues, in collusion with local BNP men, were running rackets to extort vulnerable policemen.
Requesting anonymity, the officers said their colleagues involved in these rackets had been very active in subduing the student-led mass uprising. Now these rogue officers have ganged up with local BNP men only to cover up their misdeeds during the Awami League regime.
With the tables turned, explained police officers, a section of their colleagues have also seized the opportunity for retribution and personal gain.
They explained that these rackets are threatening them with more murder cases if they do not comply and pay.
Speaking to The Daily Star, the accused police officers alleged that these extortionists were demanding Tk 2 lakh from inspectors, Tk 1 lakh from sub-inspectors and Tk 50,000 from assistant sub-inspectors.
Some officers who had actually fired weapons during the incident on July 19, as documented in a previous case, were not named in the attempted murder case, raising concerns about selective accusations. The Daily Star has copies of both the initial FIR and the revised one over the July 19 incident.
Along with Anup, Sub-Inspector Rashedur Rahman also stands accused in the case. According to the case document, Rashedur allegedly fired at protesters.
However, records of Bhashantek Police Station show he was transferred from Rampura to Bhasantek on July 8, 11 days before the incident.
Speaking to this newspaper, Rashedur also pointed out that Bhasantek is nearly 12 km away from Rampura and it was simply not possible that he could fire upon protesters in Rampura and be on duty in Bhashantek at the same time.
SI Rashedur has decided not to pay either. “Why would I pay for dropping my name from a case over a crime which I did not commit?”
Similarly, Inspector Partha Pratim Brahmachari, who served in the Ramna Division’s Detective Branch until his transfer on July 23, is implicated in the same case. He refused to pay.
“They demanded Tk 2 lakh or else threatened to accuse me in murder cases in future,” Partha alleged.
Another inspector accused in the case claimed that the group was asking for Tk 5 lakh or threatened to slap him with five murder cases.
Some officers alleged that the group demanded money from 16 officers named in the case, threatening to name them in more cases if they did not pay.
People close to many of these officers, who requested anonymity, have confirmed that they agreed to pay their colleagues.
They said extortionists mention “Tk 2” for inspectors and “Tk 1” for sub-inspectors. The officers later explained “Tk 1” in such extortion parlance means Tk 1 lakh. A former officer-in-charge of a police station in Dhaka told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity that he had personally mediated at least seven cases where his colleagues paid extortionists to avoid being named as accused in cases.
He pointed out that the transactions typically happened before the cases were filed since it is difficult to get the names off afterwards.
He also told this newspaper recently that such extortion rackets were running rampant within the police force.
Contacted for this report, a Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman said they did not receive any specific allegations of policemen extorting their colleagues.
“We’ll take action if someone brings specific allegations,” said Talebur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media) of DMP.
Contacted for comments on the alleged involvement of local BNP men in the extortionist gangs, a senior leader of the party said they had clarified their stance against extortion on many occasions in the past.
Wishing not to be named, he mentioned that the party had also taken action like expulsion against activists accused of extortion.
The Daily Star’s attempts to reach several other BNP leaders failed.
Several key officials of the government and police have publicly acknowledged such extortions are taking place.
Law Adviser Asif Nazrul said that since August 5, many cases have been being filed against political rivals and victims, causing embarrassment for the government. “During the fascist regime, ghost cases were common, and the government itself filed such cases. Our government does not do this,” he said.
Home Affairs Adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said that action would be taken against those filing cases to harass others.
“Currently, many cases are being filed, and many innocent people are being dragged into these. I am instructing the heads of law enforcement agencies to take action against those who are filing such cases,” he said.
DMP Commissioner SM Sazzat Ali recently vowed action against such complainants and police personnel, saying he had already ordered officers-in-charge to sue complainants for extortion.
Daily Star
