Police officer 'tried to blackmail Bangladesh Bank official' threatening Yaba taint

A Bangladesh Bank official in Dhaka's Mohammadpur area says he was threatened with prosecution as a Yaba addict by police if he did not pay up.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 10 Jan 2016, 06:02 PM
Updated : 11 Jan 2016, 06:55 AM

Golam Rabbi, who works in BB's communication division, says Mohammadpur police Sub-Inspector Masud Shikdar did not take him to a police station but kept him confined in his vehicle in a bid to extort money on Saturday night.

Rabbi says during his confinement in the vehicle, he witnessed many pedestrians being blackmailed by police into paying up.

Tejgaon division's Deputy Commissioner Biplab Kumar Sarkar has said that the enquiry into Rabbi's allegations have been entrusted to Mohammadpur zone Assistant Commissioner Hafiz Al Faruk.

Rabbi, a student of Dhaka University, used to work as a news presenter at a TV station.

He told bdnews24.com that he had left a relative's house at Tajmahal Road in Mohammadpur late on Sunday evening and was headed for his house at Kalyanpur.

He was trying to catch a bus from College Gate.

Around 11:30pm, he was stopped by the policemen near the Geneva camp and first body-searched. Then he was asked to pay up or face prosecution as a Yaba dealer and addict.

"Even when I told them I work for Bangladesh Bank, SI Masud abused me in foul language," Rabbi said.

He said some journalists and his relatives reached Asad Gate and rescued him from the clutches of the policemen.

However, SI Masud Shikdar told bdnews24.com that Rabbi was not dragged to the police station keeping in mind his social position as an official of Bangladesh Bank.

"We detained him because he failed to explain what he was doing in that area so late at night," Shikdar said.

He said Rabbi had resisted the usual body search police would put anyone through if he or she evoked suspicion.

"He (Rabbi) also made many adverse comments about police. We let him go later after discussing the matter with the OC," Shikdar claimed.

But Rabbi stuck to his guns, saying he had witnessed police extortion with his own eyes.

"They were dragging people off rickshaws or stopping pedestrians, asking for money, and threatening to prosecute them as Yaba addicts if they did not pay up," Rabbi said.

He alleged that Shikdar had pulled down a coat-clad gentleman travelling on a rickshaw and asked him for Tk 100,000.

"When he agreed to pay up, he was let go."

Shikdar rejected all the allegations levelled against him.

Hafiz al Faruk, who has been entrusted with the investigations, said that "both Rabbi and Masud's versions will be examined and compared with those given by others who were present".

"We will investigate the matter freely and fairly," he added.