Detective Branch

Detective Branch
গোয়েন্দা শাখা
AbbreviationDB
Agency overview
Formed1997; 27 years ago (1997)
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionBangladesh
General nature
Operational structure
HeadquartersMinto Road, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Parent agency Bangladesh Police

The Detective Branch (Bengali: গোয়েন্দা শাখা, romanized: Gōẏēndā śākhā; abbreviated as DB) is a specialized unit of the Bangladesh Police. It mostly deals with investigative activities and special operations in sensitive cases and places.[1] The main task of the detectives of this unit is to collect the information behind the news from the grass root level for the purpose of investigating the events of any serious hidden crime or unsolved historical crime.[2] Also, if necessary, they arrest important accused.[3]

History

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On 1 July 2016, Intelligence Branch Assistant Commissioner Rabiul Karim was shot dead by terrorists in the July 2016 Dhaka attack.[4]

According to Human Rights Watch, there is extensive documentation of human rights violations by the Detective Branch and the Rapid Action Battalion.[5][6] According to Human Rights Watch, 70 percent of extrajudicial deaths involving the police involved the Detective Branch.[7][8][9]

Controversies

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In 1998, Shamim Reza Rubel, a student of the Independent University, Bangladesh, was arrested by Detective Branch members. He was then tortured and killed in custody.[10][11]

On 25 March 1999, a body of an informant was recovered from the water tank of Detective Branch headquarters in Minto road in Dhaka.[12] Munshi Atiqur Rahman was made investigation officer of the case and pressed charges against four officers of the Detective Branch.[12] The case has been in limbo since then.[12]

Assistant Commissioner of Detective Branch Motiur Rahman led a team that detained and tortured a businessman for the purposes of extortion in 2010.[13][14]

The Detective Branch detained and tortured Rehana Yeasmin Dolly of the women's wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party from Wari in 2012.[15]

DMP DB Police members on duty
DMP women's DB Police members on duty

On 1 July 2016 Rabiul Karim, assistant commissioner of the Detective Branch Dhaka died in the July 2016 Dhaka attack trying to storm the restaurant taken over by terrorists.[16] On 12 January 2017, 11 fake members of the branch were arrested in Sabujbagh, Dhaka by the Detective Branch.[17]

In March 2015, seven Detective Branch members entered a border village in Tripura, India while chasing a criminal in Comilla near the Bangladesh-India border.[18][19] They were surrounded by the villagers, while three detective members escaped four were detained by Indian Border Security Force. They were handed over to Border Guards Bangladesh and BSF asked that the DB men be charged under Bangladeshi laws.[20]

Superintendent of Police Harun-ur-Rashid ordered the withdrawal of three officers of the Detective Branch after they had assaulted a nurse on duty at Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Medical College Hospital.[21] An inspector of the Detective Branch, Bahauddin Faruqui, was injured after being attacked with machetes while leading a raid in Dhaka.[22] Mahbub Sarkar, sub-inspector of Detective Branch, was shot in April 2016 during a police raid in Tatibazar, Dhaka.[23] The Detective Branch arrested six in Khulna with tiger skins.[24]

The Detective Branch detained four Nigerians on fraud and human trafficking charges.[25] Seven members of the Detective Branch were detained in October 2017 with ransom money after they had kidnapped a businessman in Tekhnaf at a Bangladesh Army check post.[26][27][28] In September 2022, those officers were sentenced to seven years imprisonment.[29][30]

Inspector Md Jalal Uddin of the Detective Branch was killed in a shootout with criminals in Mirpur while on a joint raid with Mirpur Police Station in March 2018.[31] Sub-inspector Bashir Uddin of the Detective Branch alleged that his former commanding officer Inspector Monirul Islam, and Sub-inspector Kamal Hossain had stolen drugs from a raid and made 800 thousand taka selling them.[32] He and Cox's Bazar's Officer-in-Charge alleged they were threatened by the duo.[32][33]

A sub-inspector of the Detective Branch, Syed Md Rashedul Alam, was detained for a robbery in Dhaka in December 2019.[34] Detective Branch officials detained and tortured Mohammad Abdul Kaium, a journalist, in Mymensingh.[35]

In August 2021, six members of the Detective Branch were detained for robbing a gold businessman of 20 gold bar worth 12.4 million taka.[36][37]

Harun-ur-Rashid, a controversial policeman, was appointed head of the Detective Branch of DMP on 13 July 2022.[38]

In September 2022, Detective Branch members of Dhaka District north tortured several members of a Hindu family, including a 14-year-old, in Dhamrai when to go to file a robbery case at the police station.[39] They identified the torturers as Inspector Yasin Munshi, Inspector Kamal Hossain, Inspector Kamal Hossain and two unidentified officers.[40] Inspector Yasin Munshi had been involved in a 2011 extrajudicial police killing of a college student, Kazi Imtiaz Hossain Abir.[41]

Notable cases

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References

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  1. ^ "DB chief vows to end 'Aynaghar' and 'Bhater Hotel' culture". The Business Standard. 5 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Bangladesh MP Murder: Detective chief says conspirator may have escaped to US, seeks Interpol's help to track down suspect". The Economic Times. 27 May 2024.
  3. ^ "AL ex-lawmaker Solaiman Selim arrested in Gulshan". Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha. 14 November 2024.
  4. ^ "Who were the victims of Dhaka café tragedy?". The Daily Star. 3 July 2016. Archived from the original on 2024-06-11.
  5. ^ "Bangladesh: Hold Security Forces Accountable for Torture". Human Rights Watch. 2021-06-26. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  6. ^ Human Rights Watch (2016-02-29). World Report 2016: Events of 2015. Policy Press. ISBN 978-1-4473-2550-5.
  7. ^ "'Where No Sun Can Enter': A Decade of Enforced Disappearances in Bangladesh". Human Rights Watch. 2021-08-16.
  8. ^ "2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Bangladesh". United States Department of State. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  9. ^ "Killed in 'Crossfire'" (PDF). www.amnesty.org. Amnesty International. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2024-07-31. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  10. ^ "Cop Akram, 11 others acquitted". The Daily Star. 2011-05-06. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  11. ^ "Sad death gives hopes for all". The Daily Star. 2016-05-25. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  12. ^ a b c Bappi, Emrul Hasan; Ch, Chaitanya; Halder, ra (2022-03-20). "DB Informer Jalal Killing: Trial stuck in legal limbo". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  13. ^ "BANGLADESH: Detective Branch Police forced businessman to pay ransom after kidnapping and torture- victim goes into hiding due to threats after filing complaint". Asian Human Rights Commission. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  14. ^ "DB official, 5 other cops sued for 'extortion'". The Daily Star. 2010-05-24. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  15. ^ "Odhikar - The alleged torture of Rehana Yeasmin Dolly an activist of Jatiyotabadi Mohila Dol of ward no.74 of Dhaka Metropolitan area by DB police members". Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  16. ^ "Recalled in tears of pride". The Daily Star. 2 March 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  17. ^ "11 fake DB men detained in Dhaka". Dhaka Tribune. 12 February 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  18. ^ "'BSF' picks up 4 Bangladesh detectives". The Daily Star. 2015-03-26. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  19. ^ "BSF detains 4 Bangladeshi detectives at Comilla border". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  20. ^ "BSF returns four Bangladesh policemen detained from Indian territory". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 2017-04-21.
  21. ^ "3 Gazipur detectives withdrawn for 'beating up nurse'". The Daily Star. 2016-02-16. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  22. ^ "Detective hurt in Badda attack". The Daily Star. 2016-02-19. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  23. ^ "Cop shot in Dhaka". The Daily Star. 2016-04-19. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  24. ^ "6 held with tiger skin in Khulna". The Daily Star. UNB. 2016-08-25. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  25. ^ "9 including 4 Nigerians held in Dhaka". The Daily Star. 2017-07-27. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  26. ^ "7 DB men suspended over 'kidnapping' businessman". The Daily Star. 2017-10-25. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  27. ^ "DB men involved in kidnapping". The Daily Star. 2017-10-27. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  28. ^ "Home minister: Army did the right thing by detaining the seven DB men". Dhaka Tribune. 2017-10-26. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  29. ^ "Abduction, ransom: 7 DB men get 7 years in prison". Kaler Kantho. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  30. ^ "7 DB men jailed for 7 years - Front Page". The Daily Observer. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  31. ^ "DB inspector hurt in last night's raid, dies". The Daily Star. 2018-03-20. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  32. ^ a b "'Police seize yaba, become dealers'". The Daily Star. 2018-03-01. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  33. ^ "Who will guard the guards?". The Daily Star. 2018-03-02. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  34. ^ "Cop placed on 2-day remand in robbery case". The Daily Star. 2020-01-13. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  35. ^ "Bangladesh: Release on bail of Mr. Mohammad Abdul Kaium". International Federation for Human Rights. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  36. ^ "Six detectives rob bizman of 20 gold bars in Feni, held". UNB. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  37. ^ "6 policemen held for robbing gold businessman". The Daily Star. 11 August 2021.
  38. ^ "Harun Or Rashid promoted to DB chief". The Business Standard. 2022-07-13. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  39. ^ "'We want justice'". The Daily Star. 2022-10-08. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  40. ^ Akash, Aklakur Rahman (2022-10-07). "Police torture victims of robbery". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  41. ^ "Abir's Extra-Judicial Killing: Police In Paradox By William Gomes". Countercurrents.org. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
  42. ^ "SC upholds death sentence of Shahid for Shazneen murder". Prothom Alo. Archived from the original on 5 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  43. ^ "Transcom case turns worse as Shahzreh accuses Simeen of 'killing' brother". The Business Standard. 23 March 2024.
  44. ^ "Police delay chargesheet for arresting 'five assailants' of writer-blogger Avijit Roy". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  45. ^ "Sagar-Runi killing: Journalists to launch tough movement". Dhaka Tribune. 11 February 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  46. ^ "From 48 hours to '50 years': The never-ending Sagar-Runi murder mystery". The Business Standard. 11 February 2024.
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