Exploiting fear, they make a quick buck

A section of law enforcers allegedly have been making quick bucks by instilling fear into people of making their relatives victims of “shootouts” during the ongoing countrywide anti-narcotics drives.

In Dinajpur, law enforcers allegedly threatened a paddy trader to kill him in gunfight and took a bribe of Tk 10,000 from him.

Two families in Comilla and Gazipur complained that they had given money to cops to free their two relatives, but both were killed in “gunfights” later.

Paddy trader Dabirul Islam from Amtoli area in Dinajpur's Chirirbandar upazila yesterday alleged that two plainclothes policeman demanded Tk 50,000 from him around 7:00pm on Monday.

The 42-year-old trader said Md Firozzaman and Anwar Hossain, assistant sub-inspectors of Chirirbandar Police Station, caught him while he was urinating at the back of a local restaurant.

“They took away my mobile phone and asked me to go to a nearby litchi orchard.”

Treating him as a drug trader, the cops slapped him several times. They also tried to handcuff him.

As the victim protested, one of the cops pointed his gun at the trader and threatened to kill him in “crossfire”.

At one point, the ASIs demanded he paid them Tk 50,000 or face death.

Dabirul phoned one of his acquaintances and asked him to send Tk 10,000 to a mobile phone through a mobile money transfer platform. The phone number was provided to him by the policemen.

After around an hour, the cops let Dabirul go as they became sure that the amount was transferred to the mobile phone.

Talking to The Daily Star, Md Firozzaman said he had been in Amtoli area on Monday afternoon, but he knew nothing about the bribing incident.

In Comilla, “drug dealers” Peyar Ali, 24, and Sharif, 26, were killed in a “gunfight” early yesterday.

Peyar Ali's mother Komola Begum alleged that cops from Kotwali Model Police Station detained her son at her home on Monday afternoon.

“My son was accused in about 10 cases, but he secured bail in all those,” she told The Daily Star.

Komola said one Sohag, an informant of DB Sub-Inspector Shah Kamal, demanded her family pay Tk 200,000 for his release.

“I managed to collect Tk 25,000 and gave it to Sohag. But he was killed,” she added.

Contacted, Kamal denied the allegation. “A team of Kotwali Model Police Station had led the operation to nab criminals and we assisted the team.”

In Gazipur, family members of “drug dealer” Rezaul Islam alias Beshti Rony allegedly paid Tk 8 lakh to law enforcers for his release, but he was killed in a “gunfight”.

Rezaul's mother Parvin Begum said DB police picked up her son around 2:00am on Saturday.

Around noon the following day, Rezaul's family members went to the DB's Gazipur city office. “They freed my son after receiving Tk 3 lakh and having me signed a blank sheet of paper.”

As Rezaul walked out of the DB office, ASI Abu Bakkar Siddiqui of Tongi Police Station detained him again and took him to the station.

“At the police station, cops demanded Tk 5 lakh for freeing him,” she said, adding that her husband gave Tk 5 lakh to police on Monday.

Later they came to know that their son was killed in a “gunfight”.

Officer-in-Charge Amir Hossain of DB police claimed they did not detain Rezaul.

Abu Bakkar denied the allegation of taking money from Rezaul's family. He said Rezaul was accused in 14 cases.