About 54% of those arrested in drug related cases filed by the Department of Narcotics Control in the past five years have gotten acquitted. Up to July this year, 954 cases were filed against 1,174 people, of whom 636 people were acquitted and 538 were sentenced. Of all the cases that were tried, 420 ended in conviction and 534 were dismissed. Around 51,000 cases are still pending, according to numbers released recently by the DNC. People concerned alleged that the high rate of acquittals was happening because of weak investigations, FIRs and charge sheets filed improperly. “The court pronounces a judgement on the basis of evidence – often obtained from the depositions of witnesses. But we often find witnesses absent from the court,” Public Prosecutor Abu Abdullah told the Dhaka Tribune. “Some who were made witnesses by the investigators on the case gave statements against the charges. Investigators often even failed to present the evidence,” he added. The lawyer said weak FIRs, poor investigation and improper charge sheet, all may contribute to the failure of the drugs cases. 
On the basis of experience and observation of narcotics trials, Abu Abdullah said most of the time the investigator does not give importance to the selection of witnesses. “They will pick bystanders or passersby as witnesses. As a result, the court cannot find the person when it is time for witness statements. May be they have moved somewhere else, changed their addresses. To resolve such issues the investigator could take the mobile phone number of the witnesses. That way it may at least be possible for us to find the witnesses,” he added. Mostafizur Rahman, assistant director (operations) of the Department of Narcotics Control, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had limited manpower with which to handle all duties. “Sometimes the accused is released for weak investigation. But the investigators are always trying to do their best to place the witnesses and evidence properly in the court. However, sometimes it may not be enough,” he said. “To ensure that the accused get punished, we are trying to increase manpower to develop the quality of our investigation.” DNC officials said they cannot always pay attention to proper investigation due to manpower shortage and since they are occupied with many other tasks. According to the department of Narcotics Control statistics, in the last five years the case dismissal rate increased by 12% and correspondingly the number of acquittals increased. Last year, the DNC filed 1,873 cases and scored convictions in only 892 of them. In these cases 971 people were convicted, which was 48.2% of the total. The rest were acquitted, which was 51.8% of the total. In 2014, 2,689 cases were filed whereas conviction was handed out in 1,716 cases. Among the cases, 1,175 people had been convicted, which was 52% of the total. In 2013, the department filed 2,066 cases and got 1,127 convictions. In those cases 1,218 people were found guilty, which was 54% of the total. In 2012, 3,494 cases were filed and 1,846 cases ended in convictions. In them, 1,860 people were convicted, which is 53% of the total. However, mobile courts operating under the Department have had a better rate of success. Until August this year, the mobile courts carried out 9,404 drives and filed 4,473 cases and convicted 4,612 people. In 2015, the mobile courts carried out 14,937 drives, filed 7487 cases and convicted 7,823 people. In 2014, there were 14,815 drives, 7,948 cases and 8,320 convicts and in 2013, 9,679 drives, 5,244 cases and 5,445 convicts.
Thursday, June 04, 2026
