It may sound like the script of a bad movie: A motorbike accident takes place, and the victim is taken to a hospital for treatment. He goes home with a broken arm in a sling. The next day, the bike owner along with others meet him to pay some money as compensation, expecting an end to the matter. But in an instant, a team of Rab members in plainclothes arrest them. And then, bizarrely, emerges a story of extortion by eight college and school students in a case statement drafted by Rab-4. There is no mention of the accident there, only charges of "beating, injuring and extorting Tk 40,500" from the victim, even though no such complaints were made by him.

A report by The Daily Star on this incident, which took place in Mirpur, offers details that point to abuse of power by some members of the law enforcement agency. Evidently, it got itself involved in a minor case of road accident even though no one sought its intervention. Our report says that the young boys who were implicated in the case include the 15-year-old son of one Mohon Mia, an alleged victim of enforced disappearance, who went missing in 2018.

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Star Investigates: How did a bike accident become an extortion case?

What comes strongly against the law enforcers is the comments of the son of the victim who said that he had been taken to the Rab-4 office along with the five accused, where he wanted to file a case over reckless driving. But for some unknown reasons, Rab members didn't allow him to mention that in the statement. He even requested Rab officials not to charge the boys with physical abuse, but to no avail.

Rab, through its persistence on filing an extortion case, left itself open to accusations of overreach and power abuse. Though the Rab-4 Company Commander refuted all the allegations and said they acted properly, the whole episode shows the opposite. We believe only an independent investigation can establish the truth, which is important at a time when Rab is trying to improve its image after US sanctions imposed on it following allegations of human rights violations.

The organisation must not allow such incidents to happen as it can destroy its legacy of many achievements. It is because of such incidents – occurring in various forms across the country – that people find it hard to trust police and other law enforcement agencies. The government should ensure regular, systematic monitoring of their activities to regain public trust.

A couple of months back, a friend of mine shared a post on Facebook with images of a dog that was injured in an accident and needed to be rescued. This caught my attention. I was curious to know if reposting this incident would make any difference for the poor animal.

Among thousands of posts that were made and shared in Facebook, that one particular post urging the dog to be rescued eventually saved it's life that day! Several other follow-up posts surfaced on my newsfeed in the next couple of hours with a huge number of responses sharing updates that the dog was rescued by someone, taken to a vet and treated.

The above experience is just an example of how animal lovers in Bangladesh are using social media activism to mobilise crowds and as an advocacy tool for animal welfare, especially street cats and dogs.

Animal lovers in the country are engaging in activities related to animal welfare and creating awareness regarding animal rights with Facebook groups such as 'ADOPT ME! BANGLADESH! ~by MAD.ORG', 'Dog Lovers of Bangladesh!' and 'Dog Society of Bangladesh'.

The groups promote posts on adoption of animals such as dogs, cats and birds that need shelter, treatment often times after being rescued.

Posts urging adoption or foster care for dogs and cats, especially for kittens and puppies is highly promoted in the groups.

Beautiful stories emerge from these posts, as animal lovers share posts about adoption or rescue of a sick animal. This activism has seen people lending their cars to transport a sick animal to the vet, raise and collect funds to help care for the animals and also took to the streets to find lost pets.

It is noteworthy that the groups discourage any posts related to buying or selling of animals and strongly encourages rescuing animals in need.

Members of the groups have created a web community where they engage in an effort to ensure a safe and friendly environment for the animals.

The groups also promote posts and information on how to manage the task of adopting an animal, provide suggestions on their diets, give advice on how to train them to maintain their hygiene and provide necessary information regarding their vaccination. They also help to raise funds for the treatment of injured animals after they were rescued, and also list the contact information of vets and foster homes.

This is a unique instance of using social media to enhance animal welfare and thereby uphold the human values and responsibilities we are endowed with towards other animals.  

The Rab unit, whose members allegedly framed eight Mirpur teenagers for extortion, has now taken over the charge of investigation from Pallabi police.

Family members of the accused, including a 15-year-old son of an enforced disappearance victim, have expressed doubts about getting justice as Rab-4 itself is now tasked with the probe.

"They [Rab-4 officials] framed the boys and now they are investigating the case. How will we get justice then?" questioned Shahida Begum, mother of an accused.

Family members of the complainant, Nazmul Hossain Bappy, said they were under "huge pressure" from the elite force since it took charge of the probe.

They said Rab-4 members took Bappy's father Abdul Barek to its office and recorded his statement to "their liking" after The Daily Star on July 25 ran a report headlined "Bike accident turned into extortion case".

On that very day, Rab-4 received the case documents from Pallabi Police Station.

On March 7 evening, Barek, 60, was injured after being hit by a teenager's motorcycle in the capital's Mirpur-12. However, the statement of a case, drafted by Rab-4 three days later, tells a very different story. There is no mention of the accident or the biker.

The Rab accused five college students and three more teenagers, including two schoolchildren, from the same neighbourhood of beating and injuring Barek, a tea vendor, and extorting Tk 40,500 from him.

Barek, his family members and witnesses told The Daily Star that they had no idea about the alleged assault and extortion.

Rab-4 in June applied to the home ministry's Public Security Division, seeking to take the responsibility of the case investigation.

On July 3, the Crime Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police wrote to the deputy commissioner (Mirpur division) to transfer the investigation from Pallabi Police Station to Rab-4, according to case documents submitted to the court.

Asked about this, Rab-4 Commanding Officer Mozammel Haque said they received the case documents.

"We will now investigate this case. We have talked to the plaintiff," he told The Daily Star earlier this month.

On July 31, Rab-4 Sub-Inspector Monirul Islam, investigation officer of the case, applied to a Dhaka court for permission to record Barek's statement under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure as a "neutral witness".

The IO in his prayer said, "Barek was run over by a recklessly driven motorbike of five college students and the five then hit him with locally made weapons, breaking his arm."

However, Barek earlier told this newspaper that he fainted after the motorbike hit him that day and locals took him to a nearby hospital. Several witnesses also gave the same description of the incident.

Bappi, the plaintiff of the case, said he wanted to file a case over the accident, seeking compensation, and that he only signed the case statement drawn up by Rab.

He alleged that the elite force kept him and five of the accused in the Rab-4 office in Mirpur's Paikpara for about 24 hours before they were all taken to Pallabi Police Station for filing the already drafted case and handover of the five accused to police.

The police station recorded the case on March 10.

Hours after filing of the case, Bappi filed an affidavit with a Dhaka court, saying, "The case was filed following a misunderstanding with the five college students. Later, the plaintiffs and the accused reached a settlement, mediated by some locally respectable persons. The plaintiff will have no objection if the accused are freed on bail and subsequently acquitted of the charges."

Speaking to this correspondent recently, Bappi said Rab-4 had been putting pressure on him ever since The Daily Star published the report.

"They have already recorded a statement of my father to their liking. Officials of Rab-4 came to our house looking for me in plainclothes," he alleged.

Monirul Islam, who is now investigating the case, told The Daily Star yesterday that there is no such pressure on the plaintiff or his family. "The allegation is baseless."

He added, "We are investigating the case. Recently, we took a statement from the plaintiff's father under section 161 of CrPC."

Meanwhile, sources said the Rab Headquarters has launched an "internal enquiry" into the allegations. Investigators from the Rab's intelligence unit have talked to the plaintiff, his father, witnesses, accused and their family members recently.