A raid riddled with questions

Detectives on Wednesday night raided a printing press in the capital's Katabon area and claimed to have recovered crude bombs, petrol, gunpowder and over 52,000 leaflets calling for boycott of the election.

Raising questions about the recovery of the items, workers of Prime Printing Press alleged the DB team first drove them out and then conducted the raid.

Meanwhile, two other persons, including the caretaker of a nearby building, were made witnesses in a case filed after the items were recovered.

They, however, said they did not see what happened during the raid and were just asked to sign a paper by the detectives.

Md Liton, foreman of Prime Printing Press, said, "We didn't print the black and white leaflets that the DB seized. We don't know who kept those here … There was no question of explosives being kept here either."

He said printing black-and-white leaflets is costly for them as their set-ups can be used only for four colours, and so they take nothing but colour print orders.

"We have [printing] plates for every work. If we did print the black and white leaflets, there would be plates for those. The DB said they have recovered leaflets from here, but they did not find any such plates."

Before and after the raid, the Detective Branch arrested 11 BNP leaders and activists, including the president of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal's Dhaka University unit and central Krishak Dal joint convener. They were placed on a four-day remand each on Thursday.

According to DB, they first arrested three people, who were distributing leaflets at Nilkhet, around 10:30pm and then another eight after the raid at the printing press.

DB Chief Harun-or-Rashid, at a press briefing just after the raid on Wednesday night, said the arrestees were planning to sabotage the election by asking the public, through the leaflets, to foil it. They (the arrestees) were directed by several senior BNP leaders to do so.

According to the statement of the case, filed with New Market Police Station, DB raided the Prime Printing Press, owned by a BNP activist, at 11:05pm and arrested eight party members from there.

The detectives claimed to have arrested the first three, including DU JCD President Khorshed Alam Sohel, and Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal President Baha Uddin Nobel, with 260 leaflets in their possession while they were distributing those in Nilkhet area.

DU JCD General Secretary Ariful Islam, however, said the DB picked up Sohel from his home.

Later that night, the detectives hauled in eight others from the Prime Printing Press, detectives and witnesses said.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, at a virtual press briefing on Thursday, said the DB is arresting their leaders and activists in false cases and the DB chief is telling one lie after the other.

"It's very unfortunate that decent leaders like Sohel and [Mehedi Hasan] Palash [a joint-convener of Krishak Dal] are being framed in a case for sabotage."

These are being done to diminish the opposition, he added.

The Daily Star spoke to at least 10 booksellers and tea-stall owners at Nilkhet who said they did not see distribution of such leaflets in the area.

Prime Printing Press is one of the four printing presses in Katabon.

At least 10 staffers of the four presses told this newspaper that the DB team entered Prime Printing Press and drove out all the people from inside.

About the eight "arrested from inside Prime Printing Press", the workers said no outsiders were there before DB conducted the drive.

Abdul Mannan, 59, an assistant machine operator of Anindya Printing Press, who was made a witness in the case, said, "We were preparing to go to sleep when the DB team came and asked us to leave immediately. No one was inside. We didn't see what happened during the raid."

He said the officers called him after the raid and told him to sign a piece of paper.

Another witness Ekramul Haque, 65, caretaker of the adjacent building, said he saw four arrestees in handcuffs outside the press after the raid and that he too was told to sign a piece of paper.

"I asked them [detectives] why I should sign since I didn't see anything. They said it won't be a problem."

Contacted, Mohammad Fazle Elahi, additional deputy commissioner (Dhanmondi zone) of DB, on Friday, told this newspaper they found the leaflets at Prime Printing Press.

"Even if they [Prime Printing Press] didn't print the leaflets, they might have been involved in supplying them."

He also asked The Daily Star to contact Humayun Kabir, deputy commissioner of DB's Ramna division, for comments.

Humayun did not respond despite repeated phone calls.

DB Inspector AKM Mahbubul Alam, plaintiff of the case, on, also on Friday, refuted the allegations made by the staffers and witnesses.

"They [workers and witnesses] are not telling the truth. What I said in the case statement is true. The DB chief and journalists were present during the raid."

However, a television journalist, who covered the event, told The Daily Star that all the journalists reached the spot after the raid ended.