Plainclothes personnel who form the “civil team” of the police force in Cox’s Bazar have reportedly become a source of fear for the local residents, because of their alleged harassment of innocent civilians.
According to reliable sources, the plainclothes team has been extorting the locals, instead of trying to tame narcotics trade or maintain law and order.
The rise of Yaba trade in the district, coupled with beefed up drives to arrest Jamaat-Shibir activists, had caused plainclothes personnel to step up their activities in recent times.
However, doubts have been raised about their integrity, after miscreants – identifying themselves as plainclothes Detective Branch officials – stopped passenger vehicles on Ramu Bypass and Marine Drive Road areas and snatched cash, mobile set and other valuables on several occasions during the last six months.
A police officer however defended the civil team’s importance as a strategic force, saying that the DB, Criminal Investigative Division (CID), RAB Intelligence Wing and Department of Narcotics Control also used plainclothes forces to arrest criminals.
According to sources, the police organogram or the operation structure of Police Regulation of Bengal (PRB) do not allow police stations to form civil teams or to make arrests with plainclothes officials.
However, in practice, the officers-in-charge allegedly go outside the law to form several civil teams to assist in law enforcement activities.
There are claims that plainclothes personnel roam around on requisitioned vehicles, often outside the jurisdiction of their own police stations, and detain innocent locals on charges of suspicious activities. The civil teams also detain Malaysia-bound passengers, only to hand them over to different brokers for a fee.
On January 11, Cox’s Bazar Model police station Sub-Inspector Sunil Chandra Sutradhar allegedly kidnapped an Australian tourist from the town’s Mishuk Hotel and grabbed cash and valuables worth Tk9 lakh from his possession.
Police started investigating the incident after the victim, Sabir Mohammad, filed a complaint with the Australian embassy. Although Sabir’s wife filed a written complaint against the SI and the station’s “source” Absar, officials omitted the name of the SI while recording a case. The accused SI however was later closed.
Cox’s Bazar Assistant Police Superintendent (Chief of Media Cell) of Model Circle Chhatrador Tripura claimed that civil teams of police are not usually active on the field, but were now working to thwart subversive activities by Jamaat-Shibir.
