Detective Branch Explained

Agencyname:Detective Branch
Nativenamea:Bengali: গোয়েন্দা শাখা
Abbreviation:DB
Logocaption:Insignia of Detective Branch
Country:Bangladesh
Headquarters:Minto Road, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Parentagency: Bangladesh Police
Chief1position:DB Chief of DMP
Police:Yes
Local:Yes
Speciality1:Detective

The Detective Branch (bn|গোয়েন্দা শাখা|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

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

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. The case has been in limbo since then.

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]

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.[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

Notes and References

  1. News: DB chief vows to end 'Aynaghar' and 'Bhater Hotel' culture . . 5 October 2024 . en.
  2. News: Bangladesh MP Murder: Detective chief says conspirator may have escaped to US, seeks Interpol's help to track down suspect . . 27 May 2024.
  3. News: AL ex-lawmaker Solaiman Selim arrested in Gulshan. . 14 November 2024.
  4. News: Who were the victims of Dhaka café tragedy? . The Daily Star . 3 July 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240611103837/https://www.thedailystar.net/dhaka-attack/who-were-the-victim-dhaka-caf%C3%A9-tragedy-1249711 . 2024-06-11 . en.
  5. Web site: 2021-06-26 . Bangladesh: Hold Security Forces Accountable for Torture . 2022-10-08 . Human Rights Watch . en.
  6. Book: Human Rights Watch . World Report 2016: Events of 2015 . 2016-02-29 . Policy Press . 978-1-4473-2550-5 . en.
  7. Web site: 2021-08-16 . 'Where No Sun Can Enter': A Decade of Enforced Disappearances in Bangladesh . Human Rights Watch . en.
  8. Web site: 2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Bangladesh . . 1 August 2024.
  9. Web site: Killed in 'Crossfire' . www.amnesty.org . . https://web.archive.org/web/20240731192747/https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/ASA1312652019ENGLISH.pdf . 31 July 2024 . 2024-07-31.
  10. News: Cop Akram, 11 others acquitted . 2011-05-06 . The Daily Star . 2017-04-21 . en.
  11. News: Sad death gives hopes for all . 2016-05-25 . The Daily Star . 2017-04-21 . en.
  12. News: Bappi . Emrul Hasan . Ch . Chaitanya . Halder . ra . 2022-03-20 . DB Informer Jalal Killing: Trial stuck in legal limbo . 2022-10-08 . The Daily Star . en.
  13. Web site: BANGLADESH: Detective Branch Police forced businessman to pay ransom after kidnapping and torture- victim goes into hiding due to threats after filing complaint . 2022-10-08 . Asian Human Rights Commission . en-US.
  14. News: 2010-05-24 . DB official, 5 other cops sued for 'extortion' . 2022-10-08 . The Daily Star . en.
  15. Web site: 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 . 2022-10-08 . en-US.
  16. News: Recalled in tears of pride . The Daily Star . 7 March 2017 . en . 2 March 2017.
  17. News: 11 fake DB men detained in Dhaka . Dhaka Tribune . 7 March 2017 . 12 February 2017.
  18. News: 'BSF' picks up 4 Bangladesh detectives . 2015-03-26 . The Daily Star . 2017-04-21 . en.
  19. News: BSF detains 4 Bangladeshi detectives at Comilla border . bdnews24.com . 2017-04-21.
  20. News: BSF returns four Bangladesh policemen detained from Indian territory . bdnews24.com . 2017-04-21.
  21. News: 2016-02-16 . 3 Gazipur detectives withdrawn for 'beating up nurse' . 2022-10-08 . The Daily Star . en.
  22. News: 2016-02-19 . Detective hurt in Badda attack . 2022-10-08 . The Daily Star . en.
  23. News: 2016-04-19 . Cop shot in Dhaka . 2022-10-08 . The Daily Star . en.
  24. News: 2016-08-25 . 6 held with tiger skin in Khulna . 2022-10-08 . The Daily Star . UNB . en.
  25. News: 2017-07-27 . 9 including 4 Nigerians held in Dhaka . 2022-10-08 . The Daily Star . en.
  26. News: 2017-10-25 . 7 DB men suspended over 'kidnapping' businessman . 2022-10-08 . The Daily Star . en.
  27. News: 2017-10-27 . DB men involved in kidnapping . 2022-10-08 . The Daily Star . en.
  28. News: 2017-10-26 . Home minister: Army did the right thing by detaining the seven DB men . 2022-10-08 . Dhaka Tribune.
  29. News: Abduction, ransom: 7 DB men get 7 years in prison . 2022-10-08 . Kaler Kantho . en.
  30. News: 7 DB men jailed for 7 years - Front Page . 2022-10-08 . The Daily Observer.
  31. News: 2018-03-20 . DB inspector hurt in last night's raid, dies . 2022-10-08 . The Daily Star . en.
  32. News: 2018-03-01 . 'Police seize yaba, become dealers' . 2022-10-08 . The Daily Star . en.
  33. News: 2018-03-02 . Who will guard the guards? . 2022-10-08 . The Daily Star . en.
  34. News: 2020-01-13 . Cop placed on 2-day remand in robbery case . 2022-10-08 . The Daily Star . en.
  35. Web site: Bangladesh: Release on bail of Mr. Mohammad Abdul Kaium . 2022-10-08 . International Federation for Human Rights . en.
  36. News: Six detectives rob bizman of 20 gold bars in Feni, held . 2022-10-08 . UNB . en.
  37. News: 6 policemen held for robbing gold businessman . The Daily Star . 11 August 2021.
  38. News: 2022-07-13 . Harun Or Rashid promoted to DB chief . 2022-10-08 . The Business Standard . en.
  39. News: 2022-10-08 . 'We want justice' . 2022-10-08 . The Daily Star . en.
  40. News: Akash . Aklakur Rahman . 2022-10-07 . Police torture victims of robbery . 2022-10-08 . The Daily Star . en.
  41. News: Abir's Extra-Judicial Killing: Police In Paradox By William Gomes . 2022-10-08 . Countercurrents.org.
  42. News: SC upholds death sentence of Shahid for Shazneen murder . . 6 March 2017 . 5 March 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170305141942/http://en.prothom-alo.com/bangladesh/news/141257/SC-upholds-death-sentence-of-Shahid-for-Shazneen . dead.
  43. News: Transcom case turns worse as Shahzreh accuses Simeen of 'killing' brother . The Business Standard . 23 March 2024.
  44. News: Police delay chargesheet for arresting 'five assailants' of writer-blogger Avijit Roy . . 7 March 2017.
  45. News: Sagar-Runi killing: Journalists to launch tough movement . . 7 March 2017 . 11 February 2017.
  46. News: From 48 hours to '50 years': The never-ending Sagar-Runi murder mystery . The Business Standard . 11 February 2024.

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