From 2001 to 2012, a little more than a thousand police officials refused to act on warrants asking them to appear in court to testify as key witnesses in cases they had investigated.
Trials of many cases had stalled because of the absence of respective police officials but the non-compliance with the warrants had not affected their jobs at all.
The trial of a case can only proceed if the key witness has testified and a policeman investigating the case is considered a key witness. Besides, the court also needs the presence of the official who prepared the autopsy report or the FIR (first information report).
According to sources, warrants have been issued against over 250 policemen in Dhaka, 516 in Chittagong and 250 in other parts of the country in the 12-year period. The number is also rising gradually, stalling more trials.
Abdullah Abu, public prosecutor at Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court, said the warrants are usually sent to the inspector general of police, police commissioners and deputy commissioners are asked to forward them to the policemen concerned.
“We issue a warrant when a police official is issued notices repeatedly to appear in court but he refuses to act accordingly. A warrant contains the name of the policeman, his designation, ID number and the place he worked when the case in question was filed,” he said.
Trials of a large number of cases are pending just because the policemen have not showed up in court and we have nothing to do in such cases, the prosecutor said.
SM Shahjahan, former inspector general of police, said it is the moral duty of a police official to appear in court if he is a witness in a case. “It is sad if he does not do that,” he said.
Sources said charge sheets of cases do not contain the permanent address of the investigating officers, compelling the inspector general of police, police commissioners and deputy commissioners to send the warrants to police stations concerned. Officials at the police stations then send them to the police departments concerned from where the warrants are handed to the officers. The process is quite lengthy and often the case date is over when an officer receives the warrant.
The Dhaka Tribune obtained details of two cases where the majority of the witnesses belong to the police department. Among the 13 witnesses of expatriate Yunus murder case in 2000, eight are policemen. They were sent several notices to appear in court but warrants were issued against them as they did not respond to the notices.
Of the eight, the court issued a non-bailable warrant against investigating officer Rafiqul Islam in 2001 and the trial of the case is still pending.
Nurjahan Begum was killed by unknown assailants on March 27, 2007, but Sub-Inspector Ekram Hossain, the plaintiff in the case, never appeared in the court since the incident took place. Sub-Inspector Rakib Hossain, the investigating officer in the case, did not appear in court either. Warrants were then issued against the two, along with six other police officials who also were key witnesses in the case.
Ansiur Rahman, additional deputy commissioner of Crime, Information and Prosecution at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, said police officials failed to appear in court for a variety of reasons.
“Some were transferred, some did not get the notice in time and some retired. Officials concerned are, however, looking into the matter to ensure that the policemen get the notice and appear in court afterwards,” he added.