Probe reports on DB raid: More questions than answers
Police submitted two contradictory probe reports before a Dhaka court in a case filed over the "confiscation" of fake bank notes from a hotel in Paltan in 2016.
The first probe questioned the merit of DB officers' claim that the counterfeit notes were confiscated from a hotel manager and a chef while the second probe found it to be true.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) prepared the two probe reports as the accused individuals Hasan Majumdar, manager of Hotel Bondhu, and Sohel Rana, the chef, complained to top police officials that the DB men had framed them in 2016.
According to the case filed with Motijheel Police Station, a Detective Branch team arrested Hasan and Sohel near Fakirapool kitchen market around 4:15pm on November 6, 2016. The two were caught in an alley while fleeing with fake notes of Tk 25 lakh, it mentioned.
But security camera footage and multiple witness accounts contradicted the first information report because the CCTV footage shows a team of officers in plainclothes detaining Hasan and Sohel from the hotel, not an alley.
Reviewing the video clips and 32 witnesses' accounts, the first probe conducted by DMP's then Cantonment Zone Additional Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Shahed Miah pointed out that the place of arrest mentioned in the case contradicted the video evidence.
"Actually, the accused was arrested from the hotel and the video footage did not show any evidence of fake notes being confiscated from the accused during a search," Shahed Miah wrote in his report.
The report added that during the time of detention, a DB officer turned off the hotel's CCTV camera which clearly indicated their "dishonest intent".
In his concluding remarks, Shahed Miah wrote that he could not find any proof that fake notes were confiscated at the place mentioned in the case.
The probe report was submitted to the DMP's Professional Standard and Internal Investigation Department on December 12, 2017, according to documents.
The report remained under the carpet until the court sought it on December 15, 2021. It was submitted to the court on January 9 this year.
Four months later, a three-member probe body led by DB's then additional commissioner Devdas Bhattacharya found the accused involved in the crime.
The Daily Star has copies of both the probe reports.
The second report said that Hasan's allegations against the officers were false.
The probe body recorded similar statements from seven DB officers who conducted the raid at the hotel and from two fish sellers. But locals say that the fish sellers are informants of the policemen.
The three-member body ignored the CCTV footage in their investigation which was done in February 2018.
Asked why they didn't take the CCTV footage into account, Devdas Bhattacharya said, "There might be a fault in the process of arrest and the CCTV footage didn't show the recovery of the counterfeit notes. But we found that the DB team arrested Sohel from near Fakirpool fish market with the counterfeit notes. He told us that the notes belonged to the hotel manager."
Devdas added that the accused were taking advantage of the footage.
The report said that Sohel told the DB officers that the counterfeit notes were given to him to be delivered to a barber shop owner. But the probe body could not identify the barber shop owner.
Talking to The Daily Star, noted rights activist Nur Khan said, "In some cases, we saw police try to frame people by putting fake notes on them. When two police probe reports contradict, the high officials of police should look into it sincerely."
"I think the first probe body did the job. But some months later, police formed another probe body to save their men," he observed.
THE INCIDENT
During the raid on Hotel Bondhu in the capital's Paltan, a team of detectives in plainclothes detained Hasan and Sohel. It was recorded by the hotel's security camera.
But the first information report (FIR) prepared by the police the next day depicted a completely different story.
Hasan alleged that the false FIR was written because he refused to give the detectives Tk 3 lakh in bribe.
Sub-Inspector Dewan Uzzal Hossain, one of the officers who conducted the raid, acted as the investigating officer of the case and he pressed charges against Hasan and Sohel on September 19, 2017.
Hasan and his brother Hossain Majumdar later filed several complaints against nine DB men with the Police Headquarters, Dhaka Metropolitan Police, the Prime Minister's Office and the home ministry.
The nine DB men are Sub-Inspector Dewan Uzzal Hossain, Inspector Tapan Kumar Dhali, assistant sub-inspectors Ziaur Rahman, Sohel Mahmud, Abul Bashar, Mominul Haque, Nazmul Haque Prodhan, and constables Nayan Kumar and Golam Sarowar.
Multiple probe committees were formed to investigate the allegations made by Sohel. However, none of the reports were disclosed while Hasan and Sohel had to appear before the court for the last five years as accused.
The last hearing of the case was held on November 28.
Hasan said he had been fighting for justice and his family spent large sums of money for the legal expenses.
"The CCTV footage is solid evidence that the case against me is false and fabricated. I am facing so much trouble because I am fighting against the policemen," Hasan told The Daily Star.