Court asks Bangladesh Police for tighter screening in recruitments for RAB

In the wake of the 2014 murder of seven people in Narayanganj, the court has spelled out a word of caution for police, advising them to be careful while recruiting for RAB, even as it praised the elite unit in its verdict.

The court in the Jan 16 judgment asked police to run thorough background checks to ensure that overly ambitious people prone to get involved in crimes do not make their way into Rapid Action Battalion.

On Saturday, Public Prosecutor Wajid Ali Khokon, prior to dispatching the court's verdict to the High Court, revealed the observation at a press conference during which he discussed the verdict.

As many as 16 RAB officers were part of the 25 individuals who were handed the death sentence in the sensational murder case of Narayanganj City Corporation Panel Mayor  Nazrul Islam, senior lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarkar and five others.

After abducting and killing them, the bodies of the seven victims were dumped in the Shitalakhyya river.

Nine others have been awarded jail terms of various durations by the Narayanganj court.

Khokan said, "Caution during recruitment has been advised to check over-ambitious people joining RAB and getting involved in criminal activities."

According to him, the court had observed, "...It is an incident executed by a handful of miscreants and a handful of politicians or antisocials of an otherwise disciplined force. The late panel mayor Nazrul Islam is also known as a miscreant."

"For the killing one Mayor Nazrul, six other innocents had to lose their lives at the hands of the heartless RAB and Noor Hasan group."

Khokon said the court was also full of praise for RAB's contribution to curbing menaces in society.

Since its formation in 2004, RAB has been no stranger to controversies relating to extrajudicial killings

RAB’s death sentence awardees include the then RAB-11 commander Tariq Syed Mohammed, camp commanders Arif Hossain and MM Rana.  .

Investigation into the case has proved that they had colluded with council member Noor Hossain to carry out the murders for money.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch, a New York-based group, has renewed its demand for disbanding RAB following the convictions.

Discussing the details of the verdict, Khokon said the court has handed the death sentence to the 25 directly related to the abduction, murder and hiding of the dead bodies. 

He hoped that the lower court verdict would be upheld at the apex court after the death reference hearing