BANGLADESH: A man arbitrarily arrested and intimidated by the Detective Branch Police of Khulna 

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has been informed of the arbitrary arrest of a businessman by the Detective Branch (DB) Police of Khulna district from his house at Paikgachha town on 2 November 2006.  He was then reportedly pressurised, by the intimidation of the police to settle a land dispute with another person. The victim was released on the same day but has gone into hiding due to constant threats from the police. We were also informed that Paikgachha police refused to register the victim’s complaint (General Diary) regarding the DB police’s threats and intimidation.

Mr. Muzibur Rahman, an inhabitant of Paikgachha town, had been having a land dispute for years with a man named Mr. Shafikul Islam, who has lived on a piece of land owned by Mr. Muzibur in the jurisdiction of the Paikgachha police station of Khulna district for a long time. In 2003, Mr. Shafikul claimed the land as his own and lodged a civil case against Mr. Muzibur. Since then Mr. Shafikul has lodged five complaints in total against Mr. Muzibur with different authorities; the two out of the five cases have already ended with the verdict in favour of Mr. Muzibur, while the rest three cases are still under trial.

Meanwhile, Mr. Shafikul allegedly attempted on several occasions to pressure the victim into settling the matter in his favour. In one occasion in February 2005, through one of his relatives Mr. Shafikul reportedly misguided a team of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) led by Captain Mr. Nowraj, who went to Mr. Muzibur’s house to enquire about the matter. However, the RAB team left the house without doing any harm to Mr. Muzibur after seeing relevant legal documents and the statements of many villagers backing his ownership over the land.

However, Mr. Shafikul again managed to implicate a team of the Detective Branch (DB) Police of Khulna district in this matter to pressurise Mr. Muzibur into settlng the issue outside the courts. According to Mr. Muzibur, at 3:30pm on 2 November 2006, 6 policemen led by Sub Inspector (SI) Gaharul Hasan came to Mr. Muzibur’s house at Paikgachha town by a private microbus accompanied by Mr. Shafikul. Three of the policemen were wearing uniform while the rest were in plain clothes. SI Mr. Hassan then arbitrarily took Mr. Muzibur into custody and took him to the DB Police office in Khulna. Mr. Shafikul got off the microbus on the way.

At the DB Police office, SI Gaharul Hassan pressured Mr. Muzibur to ‘solve’ the land dispute with Mr. Shafikul. The victim then asked the SI that if Mr. Shafikul really wanted to solve the matter, he needed to bring relevant evidence as well as relevant parties, such as local Union Council Chairman, to prove his ownership of the land. The victim also added that he has credible evidence to prove his ownership over the land.

SI Hassan became annoyed with the victim and allegedly said, “See! You have four cases against you (three cases are under trial). If two more cases are added, then you will be in great problem what you deserve. You are compelling us to take action. I am giving you a chance to rectify yourself. Be good!” The SI also told Mr. Muzibur not to waste time to ‘settle’ the dispute with Mr. Shafikul. The victim was released on the same day after being kept the DB police office for about three hours. Moreover, SI Hassan allegedly called to Mr. Muzibur’s mobile phone four times within three days to come to his office alone to settle the matter immediately.

On another occasion at around 2:00pm on November 7, another officer, SI Mahtab and a constable of the Paikgachha police station went to Mr. Muzibur’s house on a motorbike. At that time, the victim was not at home. The policemen then told his family members that SI Hassan from DB Police Office in Khulna telephoned to the Paikgachha police to convey his order to Mr. Mubibur to come to his office on the same day or the following day. Being scared of the probable consequence, Mr. Muzibur did not go. At 11:10am on the following day on November 8, SI Hassan called to Mr. Muziburon’s mobile phone from his own mobile phone (number: +880 1712673518), and threatened the victim that he would take action against him not following his order.

After being constantly threatened and terrorized by the police, all the members of Mr. Mubibur’s family including his wife and two children fell sick due to fear and are receiving medication. They are scared that the police or other law enforcement agents may kill Mr. Muzibur in a so-called “crossfire”, (the common way to cover up extrajudicial killings in Bangladesh), if he goes to the DB Police Office or if he is arrested anywhere. Due to this fear, Mr. Muzib has gone into hiding and is even scared to receive his mobile phone calls.

Upon receiving this case, the AHRC contacted the SI Gaharul Hassan through his mobile phone. SI Hassan admitted that he picked up Mr. Muzibur to his office following a specific complaint against him. However, regarding the question as to why a DB officer is being involved in a matter outside the concerned police station and courts, SI Hassan replied, “We are authorized to do so by section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Bangladesh. Section 160 of the CCP mentions, “Any police officer making an investigation under this Chapter may, by order in writing, require the attendance before himself of any person being within the limits of his own or any adjoining station who, from the information given or otherwise, appears to be acquainted with the circumstances of the case; and such person shall attend as so required”.

The SI further insisted that he tried to solve the problem but had not intimidated Mr. Muzibur. He also said, “We, the DB officials, can deal with all the issues; we came to Khulna when the situation of this place was very bad, and now we have made it a good place. If you were in front of me, then you could understand it!” But in the end SI Hassan assured the AHRC that neither he or his colleagues will not do any harm to Mr. Muzibur.

Meanwhile, on the evening of November 8, Mr. Muzibur along with a lawyer, a human rights defender and one of his relatives went to the Paikgachha police station to lodge a General Diary (GD) regarding the telephonic threats from the SI Hassan. Instead of recording the GD, the Officer-in-Charge (OC) of the Paikgachha police station, Mr. G M Enamul Haque, suggested Mr. Muzibur to complain to the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Khulna district for a departmental investigation. The OC reportedly admitted that SI Hassan, who has a bad record in the police department, normally arrests people, tortures them in custody, extorts huge amounts of money and implicates the victims with fabricated charges and harasses them in various ways.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please urgently write to a letter to the relevant Bangladesh authorities listed below urging them to take prompt action to investigate the alleged intimidation of the victim by the SI Hassan of the DB Police Office in Khulna, and take strong disciplinary action against him.

 

 

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