The so-called anti-militancy fight of CTTC-RAB-ATU is more of a fight for livelihood than an ideological one. Under the guise of so-called anti-militancy, RAB-CTTC has built a syndicate of billions of taka in money and trade.
The luxurious life of RAB and police officers, luxurious apartments, expensive cars, expensive jewelry for their wives, and top-class school and university education for their children all come from this so-called militant sector.
This The officers of the unit cannot eat curry without extra-virgin olive oil. Even in this market with breathtaking prices, they have various types of curry on their dining table. They always have the latest iPhone in their pockets. They and their family members have multiple lands, cars and houses in many places in the country and abroad.
But when you look at the pay scale, this calculation doesn't add up. We want to go a little deeper to reconcile the calculations.
A police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told me in the guise of a story, "Brother, every month we are given targets to arrest in different categories. For example, there is a quota of 10 people from Shibir, 2 from Hizb ut Tahrir, 6 from BNP, 2 extortionists, 2 for kidnapping, etc. We have to meet these targets not only for the greed of promotions and bonuses, but also to escape accountability."
Most of these large numbers of detainees do not have to be brought to court. There are specific "costs" in all areas, from abduction to making them defendants in cases, remand applications, bail, and even submitting investigation reports.
We are highlighting the types of assets that were looted by the so-called law enforcement forces under various pretexts.
1. During the disappearance, the victim's mobile phone, laptop, computer, tab and other digital devices were seized. However, none of these were included in the seizure list. These seized assets were not handed over to the court, so there is no possibility of getting them back later. These items were usually shared by constables, naiks, ASIs.
2. Money was extorted from businessmen and wealthy people in innovative ways while they were in hiding. Extortion was done by threatening them with crossfire. The rate ranged from 4 million to several crores of taka. In addition, RAB used to hire assassins to give "crossfire" to political and business opponents.
This money was received by the commanding officers and other members. Nur Hossain used to give 1 million taka every month to the RAB officers accused in the Narayanganj seven murder case, which was proven in court. Our investigation showed that RAB gave the businessman a minimum of 30 thousand taka in crossfire.
3. The prisoners' bank accounts and mobile banking information were also used to withdraw money from there. The DB embezzled several lakhs of taka from the bank account of a prisoner who had been paid for the sale of land for medical treatment. They would take the prisoner with them and search the house in the name of "operations" and take away the family members' smart phones, cash and even expensive furniture of their choice. It is said that they attacked the house of a prisoner and stole even a pen from the table.
4. In the field of filing cases, there are different rates for different categories. The rate also depended on the type of case to be filed. 54 or 25 lakhs for a case of arrest on suspicion, 10 lakhs for a general murder case, 7 lakhs for a case under the Arms Act, etc. If they refused to pay the money or were unable to do so, a case was filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act or Explosives Act. If they had a political identity, a case of vandalism and cocktail explosion was filed. In some cases, a blogger murder case was filed! This money was usually shared by the commanding officer, SI or inspector.
5. The rate of the deal varies depending on whether the remand application will be made again during the surrender in court after filing the case. Depending on the case, this rate starts from 50,000 to 1 million. This money had to be delivered to the officers' homes. As a result, they did not apply for remand again on the day of surrender in court.
6. During Sheikh Hasina's tenure, remand applications were granted in secret, even though they were heard in open court. Members of the intelligence agency would bring remand orders from the Home Ministry and, based on that order, would grant remands in any case at will.
7. After the remand was granted, another round of trading took place. Separate money was taken to determine whether the prisoner would be tortured on remand or not. In their language, this is the “cost of spending the remand”. The most money trading took place in this category. They took money from anyone, starting from 5 thousand to 5 million. There is no example of not taking money on the condition that the prisoner would not be beaten on remand.
8. There was also a separate deal for whether the public prosecutor would object to the bail application on behalf of the prisoner. Again, whether the bail would be granted or not was also decided through a "peshkar" (promoter). Half of the amount of the agreement had to be paid before the bail was granted and the other half after the bail was granted. The prosecutor, peshkar and judge received the entire amount. Judges who did not agree to this had to spend their lives in lower courts.
9. Many people had to suffer even after bail. As soon as the bail order reached the prison, the Special Branch intelligence agencies had to be informed, and the intelligence agency people would again disappear the prisoner from the prison gate. And this heinous work was done directly by the sub-jailer, district or jail superintendent. But if an agreement was made in advance, this hassle could have been avoided. Half of the money had to be paid when the bail papers were received, and the remaining half had to be paid after the prisoner left the prison gate. This rate varied depending on the person and the case, and the entire amount went into the pockets of the sub-jailer, district or jail superintendent.
10. Again, the people of the intelligence agency would arrest them again for this money. It was possible to return home only by making an agreement with the members present. The suffering of those who could not pay the money or refused to pay was not over. They would be again disappeared or sent to prison with a case. And from the beginning, the door to money trade was opened in every category.
In addition to the above-mentioned sectors, the victims had to pay money in many other sectors. Money was taken for various sectors such as sending bail papers to jail quickly, not mentioning names in the complaint, FIR and investigation report, not showing any "prohibited books" or "weapons" in the "seizure list".
Huge funds used to come from the supposedly peace-loving developed countries for the disappearance and murder cases. RAB-CTTC has been regularly carrying out this drama to keep the flow of these funds going under the banner of “War on Terror”. But in 2020, the USA withdrew from the narrative of the War on Terror worldwide and stopped funding, and since then its continuity in this country has also come to a standstill.
On average, the people involved in the disappearances would steal an estimated 15-20 lakhs during the entire prison life cycle of a prisoner, and this money was not included in the cost of handling the case. As a result, they became the owners of a lot of money overnight. They did not want to leave such a profitable business and move to another unit. They would block themselves from transfers for large sums of money and even "promotion to another unit".
The people who are sitting in the lap of the entire syndicate will never want the culture of disappearances to be completely stopped in this country. Because the end of disappearances in the country means a kick in their stomach. Maintaining the previous lifestyle has become difficult now. The people of the intelligence forces no longer walk around on the streets wearing white, ironed shirts like before.
After the escape of Sheikh Hasina, the brainchild of fascism, the police were the first among the government forces to go on strike. And the RAB, hiding their crimes, claimed that they were "in favor of the coup." Then they appeared with various demands, including changing their dress code, depoliticization, and salary increases.
Whenever we start disclosing the information about the mirror house, they try to divert our attention by creating various incidents. Starting from the police-RAB, the syndicate of lawyers, judges, and prison authorities has devised various tricks to strategically avoid the disappearances in the mirror house. They are trying their best because they are afraid that everyone's names will come out in a fair and impartial investigation. For the past six months, they have prevented the chief advisor from visiting the mirror house. They have broken the partition of the mirror house, cleaned it, painted it, and then only allowed some parts to come to light. The main instigators have remained out of reach. We have to unmask them. We have to spread it to everyone so that all their conspiracies are foiled.
©Zaffran Hasan
