As many as 500 files of sensational cases are now gathering dust in the Detective Branch (DB) of police and Criminal Investigation Department (CID), where the cases were transferred for fair and transparent investigation.
Victims’ families applied to the authorities concerned to transfer the cases to the DB or CID for speedy and fair investigation, suspecting unfair investigation by the police.
But it has been years since the cases were transferred to those departments, and they are yet to make any headway in finding any clue as to who might have been behind the crimes, let alone identifying the criminals.
In most cases, political clout is alleged to be playing a major role in halting or manipulating the investigation.
After an incident occurs, the investigation runs in full swing for a couple of days but with the passage of time it slows down and eventually the file begins to collect dust.
A few days later the offender gets the upper hand and they turn on the plaintiff and victims’ families, much to their chagrin.
The much-talked-about sensational murder case of journalist couple Sagor and Runi, now with the monitoring cell of the home ministry, has remained unsolved, despite the passage of one whole year following the incident.
However, police officials said their work is disrupted due to a lack in personnel.
Saiful Alam, deputy inspector general of the CID, denied the allegation saying that the officials of the department are working day and night to complete the investigations.
Asked about harassment of victims’ family members, he said it is totally a baseless claim as the officials are working their level best despite having a manpower shortage and are able to prove their succes in this regard.
A source from an intelligence agency, however, said that there are some cases that the DB and CID have failed to complete even after 10 years of investigation.
A thorough investigation by the Dhaka Tribune found that victims’ family members often suffer harassment by investigation officers and have to pay them a huge sum of money so that the investigation is continued.
Law enforcers have failed to make any progress in the Narsingdi Mayor Lokman Hossain murder case. Prime accused Mobarak Hossain was arrested by Dubai police, but police are yet to bring him back to the country for reasons unknown.
Another glaring example is the Natore Mayor Sanaullah Nur Babu murder case. Charge-sheeted accused Jubo League leader Jakir Hossain is roaming around freely under the very nose of law enforcement agencies.
The DB and CID have also not been able to make any progress in the murder case of Arman, a minor boy in Chittagong, for the last ten years.
The Hazi Suruz Mia and Sahab Uddin murder case of Chauddagram in Comilla is alleged to have been withdrawn under pressure from a political party.
Contacted, Shamsul Haque Tuku, state minister for the home ministry, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had already taken steps to reduce the pressure of cases from the DB and CID. He added that steps have also been taken to complete the investigation in the sensational cases.
About the Sagor Runi case, he said the investigation is in progress and it will be done very shortly.
Asked about political influence on the investigation agencies, he said during the tenure of the present government it has been proved that law enforcers are working independently and that is why the CID was able to submit the charge sheet of the August 21 Grenade attack case.