Kalindi, brother of indigenous women leader Kalpana Chakma, who was allegedly abducted by law enforcers more than 17 years ago, was asked to provide DNA samples for a test as a part of the ongoing investigation into the abduction.
Kalpana, an indigenous and women’s rights activist, was allegedly abducted by a group of law enforcers, led by an army personnel of the lieutenant rank, on June 12, 1996, several hours before the 7th parliamentary elections.
Kalpana was reportedly campaigning in favour of Bijoy Ketan Chakma, then senior presidium member of the Pahari Gana Parisad and an independent candidate in the 1996 election.
Kalindi yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune: “Two days ago, OC of Baghaichari police station Rafiqullah came to my house and informed my family that I would have to go to Chittagong for a DNA test. I was not at home when the OC came.”
Kalindi added that two police constables had come to his house once again yesterday morning and told him to accompany them to Chittagong for a DNA test. “They did not show me any sort of documents. I told them, I will meet the OC on Saturday at the police station. I also told them that I might not go to for DNA test since I do not know what a DNA test was. Moreover, neither my lawyer was informed about the development nor has there been any court order.”
Kalindi’s lawyer Jewel Dewan said he had come to know about the update when he approached a court source. “As the lawyer of the case, I should have been informed about such developments right away. Neither SP Amena nor the court officials informed me about this until I approached,” Jewel said.
He also said the court had permitted the DNA test following an application by Amena in mid-January. January 23 was the deadline for police for submitting the investigation report.
Declining to make any definitive comment on the issue, OC Rafiq Ullah said he did what he was asked by district police super Amena Begum. Although he said there had been a court order, he did not confirm whether his police station had received any copy of that order.
Amena told the Dhaka Tribune: “The abduction took place many years back. We are collecting the [DNA] sample because if we find any dead body, we can be sure whether it was Kalpana by matching the dead body’s DNA with her brother’s.”
Regarding the new development in the investigation, Amena said they had been investigating into the matter and the court had provided them a court order to do so.
Presently, Amena is investigating the case following a Rangamati Judicial Court’s order. Two days ago, the court extended the deadline to March 6 for report submission. This is the third time the court has extended the time upon application from police.
On January 16 last year, the court appointed Rangamati polie chief Amena for reinvestigating the incident and asked her to submit report by December 10. Following a petition on December 10, the court asked her to submit the report on January 23.
According to Kalpana’s brother Kalindi Kumar Chakma, also witness of the abduction, an army lieutenant and two Village Defence Police (VDP) members were involved in the abduction.
So far, three reports – two final reports including one from CID which concluded after 16 years of investigation and one from a judicial inquiry commission have been placed before the court. None of those reports mentioned names of any accused. The court rejected the report saying it did not identify the abductors and lacked information about Kalpana’s whereabouts.
