TDS Desk:

The incident occurred under the jurisdiction of one police station, but the case was filed in another. In some cases, several cases have been registered over the same event. Since August 5 of the last year, this pattern has become evident, with investigations exposing at least 66 incidents where multiple cases were filed.

Riaz, 35, a construction worker from Bhola, was shot dead in Dhaka’s Jatrabari on 5 August last year. A case was filed in the Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court over the incident. Later, on 22 July, another case was filed at Jatrabari Police Station. In total, three cases have been linked to this single incident. It was found that Riaz’s wife, Farzana, had filed the case at Jatrabari Police Station. Taking a copy of that case, a man named Zahidul filed another case at Vatara Police Station, where he accused Ismail Hossain Pradhania. Yet another case was filed in Narayanganj’s Fatullah Police Station over the same incident, again using Riaz’s identity. However, sources at the Police Headquarters’ monitoring cell confirmed that the “genuine” case of Riaz’s murder is being investigated by Jatrabari Police Station.

Records show that Zahidul has previously been accused in at least five fraud-related cases. He was once arrested alongside Abed Ali, a driver who was implicated in a notorious exam question leak case.

The investigation further found that on 25 August last year, a young man named Sifat Hossain was killed in front of the police box at Mirpur-10 intersection. A case was filed at Mirpur Model Police Station, accusing at least 80 individuals, by a man named Lokman from Borhanuddin upazila of Bhola. Speaking to this reporter, Sifat’s brother-in-law Maksud Alam said Lokman had filed a false case in Mirpur using his brother-in-law’s dead body. He alleged that Lokman had named as accused those who had helped bury the body, and even demanded extortion money from them. When the matter came to the attention of Police Headquarters, the real incident was disclosed. Following this, on 13 August of this year, Sifat’s mother, Aklima, filed another case at Kotwali Police Station in Old Dhaka.

Further inquiries revealed that on 5 August last year, a young man named Shakil Hasan Manik was shot dead on Shaheed Faruq Road in Jatrabari. On 15 August, his father, Mokhlesur Rahman, filed a case. He was from Gabtali in Bogura. In that case, a man named Malu was listed as accused number 48. He was identified as an Awami League leader from Ward 66 in Demra. However, no record of Malu was found in the Awami League ward committee list of 37 members, none of whom were named as accused. In fact, Malu had earlier been accused in four cases filed against BNP-Jamaat leaders during the Awami League regime in 2013. Malu himself stated that some local people, in collusion with investigating officers, had included his name in those charge sheets.

Other incidents with multiple cases include: on 4 August last year, the killing of Sani Ahmed, which led to two separate cases being filed at Gopalganj Model Police Station on 27 August and 11 September; the 19 July killing of Amjad Hossain in Shibpur, Narsingdi, which resulted in two cases on 8 September and 11 October at Shibpur Model Police Station. Additionally, multiple cases were filed over the killings of Jihad Hasan in Jatrabari on 5 August, Shamim Howlader at Mirpur’s Proshika intersection on 20 July, Alamgir Hossain in Uttara’s Azampur on 5 August, Ridwan Hossain in Mymensingh on 19 July, Sheikh Rakib in Progoti Sarani, Jubayer Ahmed in Mymensingh on 20 July, Ramzan Mia Jibon in Gulistan on 5 August, Nure Alam Rakib and Biplob Hasan in Mymensingh on 20 July, Tuhin Ahmed in Savar on 5 August, Al Amin in Savar on 19 July, and Hridoychandra Tarua in Chattogram’s Panchlaish on 18 July. Altogether, at least 66 incidents so far have led to multiple cases, either in the same police station or in different ones.

Meanwhile, at a press conference, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Baharul Alam stated that many false cases had been filed since 5 August, some of them duplicates. Steps have been taken to verify and report on these cases.

Dr. Touhidul Haque, Associate Professor at Dhaka University’s Institute of Social Welfare and Research and a criminology expert, commented:

“In a single criminal incident, multiple cases cannot be filed. False cases should be dismissed quickly, and the genuine case must be properly investigated.”