Legal experts and rights advocates in Bangladesh have raised alarms over a rising number of criminal cases allegedly implicating innocent people, with reports suggesting extortion gangs are exploiting the justice system for profit and revenge.
The controversial cases, many stemming from politically and socially sensitive incidents in July and August, have drawn widespread criticism. In several cases, complainants admitted they did not know the majority of the people they had accused. Experts said that points to widespread abuse of the legal process.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Baharul Alam himself has admitted to harassing innocent people by filing cases. The real picture has emerged in his statement.
At a press conference on Monday, he said, “The case is not false, the case is true. However, we cannot close the gap to increase the number of accused. We also have this limitation in the law. After August 5, it has been seen that five or ten people may have committed the crime, but for malicious purposes, to extort money, to harass someone, and to intimidate them, cases have been filed in the names of 300 people.”
The IGP said, “We want to close the gap to harassing someone by filing cases. That is why I also call the police station many times.” He requested that if someone is harassed by filing a case, the higher authorities of the police should be informed.”
According to sources, the plaintiffs in many cases do not know the accused. The accused do not know the plaintiffs either. A gang is extorting money from the targeted people in the name of framing them in the case. If they refuse, they are being implicated in the case. The conflict over the mosque committee has escalated into a case of July-August. One party has been implicated in a case of another area.
However, in some cases, many plaintiffs have already realized their mistake and have given an affidavit in the court to exclude the names of innocent people from the complaint.
Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Mustasim Tanzir told Bangladesh Pratidin that the incident of filing false cases with malicious intent or making innocent people accused by trading cases is unexpected. “In some cases, due to the lack of proper guidance, due to grief and emotion, or based on hearsay, numerous mass cases related to the July-August coup have been filed in the names of various people.”
“By doing this, the real accused can also take the opportunity to get bail or acquitted by exploiting the loopholes in the law. This can create a dangerous situation,” he added.
Dr. Touhidul Haque, Associate Professor at Dhaka University and an expert in criminology, said that it is very dangerous to implicate these people who are not involved in the incident. “It will be seen that these victims will try to take revenge. This will create permanent anarchy and chaos in the society. However, the investigating officer should, subject to investigation, exclude these innocent people from the case as soon as possible. At the same time, the matter should be disclosed to the media.”
He said that there is a clear provision to take legal action against those who file false cases. “If action is taken against them now, no one will file false cases in the future.”
Recently, after a murder case was filed at the capital's Gulshan Police Station, the plaintiff himself admitted that he did not know most of the accused in the complaint. Three of them, who were named in the complaint, requested the plaintiff to remove their names from the case. The plaintiff agreed to this.
However, he said that he would talk to his leader and make a decision after seven days. After seven days, the victims contacted the plaintiff. But the plaintiff told them that his leader had said, “He will take six crore taka to remove the names of the three people. Names cannot be removed without paying money.”
Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Talebur Rahman of DMP's Media and Public Relations Division said that if someone's name is intentionally implicated in the case, they will be removed from the investigation report later, subject to investigation.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
