Aiming to prevent criminals from fleeing a country, the International Criminal Police Organization, commonly known as Interpol, has recommended developing a criminal database at air, river and land ports of Bangladesh.
The international police cooperation agency wants to provide logistical support to the Bangladesh government in this regard.
After receiving the proposal, Bangladesh Police kept the matter under consideration, but have not made any final decision yet.
The recommendation came at a conference titled “Containing transitional crimes by engaging police forces in Southeast Asian countries” held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on November 14-24.
India and Pakistan had pulled out of the multinational event.
A delegation of Bangladesh Police, comprised of seven members from its Special Branch (SB), immigration police, Police Bureau of Investigation, and National Central Bureau (Interpol desk at Police Headquarters), joined the conference.
Participants of Bangladesh Police said Interpol implements different projects to identify criminals in its member countries.
It also trains policemen of those countries and gives importance on exchanging information.
“Criminals leave a country after committing a crime and can neither be identified nor arrested easily. Even if a suspect faces legal action in his or her homeland, the accused will be difficult to track down in a country that is not his or her homeland,” said one of the police officials, requesting anonymity.
“If there is a database on criminal and case records at every port, the criminals will not be able to flee the country. Even if they manage to do so, they will be easily located with the help of Interpol,” he added.
An official with the rank of a superintendent of police said: “Criminal data is kept at the ports in countries such as Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. Hence, it becomes easier to apprehend criminals even though they escape.
“Interpol can also help repatriate the fugitives [when there is a data base in place]. Considering the fact, it has been proposed that the air, river and land ports of all the Southeast Asian nations should create a database.
“Transnational crimes, such as smuggling, take place in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Thailand. People committing such crimes easily flee their homeland. The criminal database suggested by the Interpol will put pressure on the criminal elements of this region.”
An immigration police official said the global police organization has assured that it will provide logistical support for developing such databases at all the ports.
An official posted at the Police Headquarters said: “We are yet to make any final decision regarding the criminal database. The proposal is being scrutinized, since the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate, Immigration Department and SB police are responsible for ensuring security of these ports. These agencies can also contribute to the database.”
However, the matter has not been finalised as yet. The ports of our bordering countries do not have a criminal database as well, the police official said.
“We do need to gather and keep information on a criminal entering the country. Information on a criminal, held at a port, is collected on an ad hoc basis. But, the process [of information collection] will get easier if a database is introduced. If so, any criminal can be arrested while entering or leaving a port with ease,” he stated.
The Police Headquarters is also considering the proposal. But, it says that it will require some research before taking a final decision on this.
The possible changes to the ports may go through, but the availability of necessary logistical support and skilled manpower must be assessed before giving a final nod to the proposal.
When contacted, Assistant Inspector General (media) of police Sahely Ferdous said: “Interpol's proposal is a good one. We are considering the matter so that we can have a criminal database. But, the process will need to go through a lot of experiments, before being fully implemented.”The article was first published on Bangla Tribune
Thursday, March 20, 2025
