Detectives will soon be asking the Home Ministry to come up with appropriate measures that would prevent criminals from impersonating DB officials and from using utilities similar to those used by the DB forces.
The Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police will also request the ministry to formulate new laws or modify existing policies to protect the reputation of the DB.
“We will place a proposal to the Home Ministry for modifying the existing policy that allows civilians to purchase dresses and utilities similar to those used by the DB police; if necessary, we will urge them to constitute laws in this regard,” DB Joint Commissioner Md Monirul Islam told reporters following the arrest of three such DB impersonators.
The latest arrests on Sunday were made in a string of drives over the past two months that saw law enforcers detaining around 25 DB impersonators.
As more and more criminals are donning the dresses of detectives, the incidents are serving as precedents for criminals to establish further lawlessness in the country, said Ziaur Rahman, chairman of Dhaka University’s criminology department. Such incidents are also breaking the people’s trust of law enforcers, he added.
Addressing a press conference yesterday, Monirul said the DB has plans of setting up one-stop service centres that would let victims register crimes either by physically appearing at the centres or through phone calls; any complaint will be verified and followed up later by police officials.
As a word of caution to the public, the DB chief urged all to demand identification whenever anyone approached them claiming to be a DB official. Anyone without a DB uniform jacket or ID card is not an actual Detective Branch member, he warned.
According to existing rules, all DB officials must wear a uniform jacket and carry identification during any drive.
Monirul also alleged other law enforcement agencies of picking up people in the name of the DB police and showing them arrested later on. Claiming that such detainments harmed the image of the DB police, Monirul said they would urge the Home Ministry to coordinate among the agencies to avoid such incidents.
Replying to a query, he added that there are plans to put visible logos on the vehicles that carry DB officials so that no one else can pose as detectives.
Three DB impersonators held
Three men – Abu Bakar Siddique, Abul Hossain and Sharif Hossain – were arrested from the city’s Elephant Road on Sunday night as they were impersonating DB officials.
A DB team made the arrests when a group of seven criminals – all posing as DB officials – were trying to snatch Tk20 lakh from local traders named Md Kamal Hossain, Md Bojlur Rahman and Md Abdul Latif. Four of the culprits, however, managed to flee the scene with the snatched money.
The DB team, which was in the area at the time, moved in to make the arrests after noticing the suspicious activities of the gang. A pair of handcuffs, a police radio transmitter, and a microbus used for the crime were also recovered from the scene.
DB chief Monirul said the arrested criminals had been involved with the racket for around three years and had been previously arrested by the DB police.
