‘Don’t arrest the accused’, Parliament body tells police

A parliament committee has urged police not to arrest a Parliament Secretariat official accused of conspiring against the state.

All members of the cabinet committee that takes care of housing and other facilities of Members of Parliament took the decision on Aug 18 even as police investigation was on.

The meet, headed by Chief Whip ASM Feroz, asked police to not ‘harass’ the absconding Sujit Kumar Deb, although parliament rules do not allow such committees to decide on security matters.

Feroz asked Sher-e-Bangla police to not arrest Sujit until the case report was filed. He did not respond to calls, and others in the committee were tight-lipped.

The administrative official was accused with five others after one Mahmudul Hasan aka Monir Hossain, 42, was arrested from the MP hostel on Aug 12.

Two others - Mahmud Ripon, 42, and Md Yusuf Ali - 32 were also arrested from the place and accused, along with Sujit Kumar and two other parliament staffers, in the case filed by Sher-e-Bangla Police under Special Powers Act the next day.

Police said Mahmudul had been impersonating as an army major and the prime minister’s protocol officer, and living in Narail-1 MP Kabirul Haque Mukti’s room.

He was also found to have been using the national flag and parliament’s monogram on his car and the unique watermark on his visiting card.

“The police FIR said Sujit had run away from the site. It seems this irrelevant comment was made to wrongfully implicate him,” Feroz said in the meeting as noted in the working paper.

He also said Parliament Secretariat employees were angry over Sujit’s inclusion in the case.

“Sergeant of Arms (parliament’s chief security official) said Sujit had arrived after the incident,” he added.

The police case mentions that Sujit Kumar Deb, supervisor Salauddin Md Amin, and class-four employee Idris Ali fled the day the fake major was arrested.

Meanwhile, the three under arrested were being questioned in police custody.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury refused to comment on a case under investigation, saying that Feroz be spoken to in this matter.

Parliamentary committee member Panchanan Biswas refused to comment when contacted over the phone.

“Yes, there was a discussion. But there are people assigned to talk to the media, please contact them,” said the Khulna-1 MP.

Sher-e-Bangla Police OC Abdul Momen said they are yet to receive the request from the parliament committee.