Staff Correspondent

The Ministry of Home Affairs has suspended former Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Sanjida Afrin. The suspension was announced in a notification issued by the Ministry on Sunday. Sanjida, who is currently serving in the Armed Police Battalion (APBN), has been accused of misconduct.

According to the notification, Sanjida was suspended under the Government Service Rules Act.

During this period, she will be attached to the Barishal Range and will receive subsistence allowance in accordance to government regulations.

The issue stems from a controversial report prepared by Detective Branch (DB) inspector Jahangir Arif. The report exonerated former Law Minister Anisul Huq, former Private Sector and Investment Advisor to ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Salman F Rahman, and former Director General of the National Telecommunication Monitoring Centre (NTMC), Major General (retd) Ziaul Ahsan, in connection with two murder cases during the July-August student uprising. The report, however, became public before being submitted to the court.

Inspector Jahangir Arif has since been temporarily suspended. During internal inquiries, Arif reportedly claimed that he acted on the instructions of ADC Sanjida Afrin.

Photo shows Anower Hossain, organising secretary of Bangladesh Chattra League, receiving treatment at a hospital after being injured by police.

When questioned, ADC Sanjida denied these allegations, stating that she did not issue any such directive. She further emphasised that she did not have the authority to decide on such a sensitive and high-profile case.

ADC Sanjida previously came to discussion in September 2023, following an incident where two central leaders of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) and a Dhaka University leader were forcibly taken from BIRDEM Hospital and detained at Shahbagh Police Station. They were subjected to brutal physical assault by police during their detention.