Feni: Names added to cases, dropped for money

After the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in the mass uprising, police stations across the country were attacked, vandalised, and weapons looted. Feni Model Police Station was among them.

Jamal Uddin Gazi was arrested as an accused in the police station looting case. After four months in jail, he secured bail. Now, he has filed a fresh case, claiming he was injured during the anti-discrimination movement. His case names 264 individuals, with an additional 100 to 150 listed as unidentified accused.

At first, Gazi attempted to file the case with Feni Model Police Station. When that failed, he petitioned the Feni senior judicial magistrate’s Court on 17 August. The court instructed the additional superintendent of police (Sadar Circle) to investigate and submit a report. That investigation is still ongoing.

When asked about the delay, Gazi told Prothom Alo that his treatment had taken a long time. He also claimed he had been falsely arrested in the Feni police station looting case as part of a conspiracy.

Gazi is a former member of the Feni district Jubo Dal and joint convener of the Chhagalnaiya upazila Jubo Dal. By profession, he is a small businessman. In his deposition, he first named top Awami League leaders of Feni District, following the pattern of other mass uprising–related cases. He then expanded the list to include lower-ranking leaders from various parties, including BNP, Jamaat, Jatiya Party, and Jashod, as well as businessmen and expatriates.

Since 5 August, 2024, the phrase “case-business” has become commonplace in Feni. Like Gazi’s complaint, most cases now list a broad range of individuals—Awami League leaders and activists alongside businessmen, professionals, and expatriates. Many allege they were accused due to personal or business disputes, or as part of attempts to extort money under pressure.

The trend has reached such an extent that even BNP and Jamaat leaders themselves have not been spared. Abdul Matin Parvez, vice-president of the BNP unit in Ward no. 18 of Feni municipality, was accused in an attempted murder case filed on 20 July. He believes his opponents used the case to sideline him.

Abdul Matin told Prothom Alo, “The plaintiff himself admitted at the police superintendent’s office that he does not know me. Who, then, added my name to the case remains a mystery.”

On 12 September, the Chhagalnaiya unit of Jamaat-e-Islami held a press conference, alleging that eight of its leaders and activists—along with ordinary citizens—had been named in an attempted murder case in Mahipal, at the heart of the uprising.

At the press briefing, Mujibur Rahman, Jamaat’s Feni district secretary for agriculture and economic affairs, said a case was filed in court on 17 August accusing one Jamaat Rukon and seven activists. He added that many businessmen and common people were also being harassed through such cases.

Prothom Alo’s investigation found that case-trading in Feni operates at several levels. In business or personal disputes, money is often taken from one side to implicate the other in a case. In some instances, drafts of complaints are circulated beforehand to pressure individuals into paying.

Those who comply have their names dropped; those who refuse are included as accused. Many of the accused in such cases do not even know the complainants. The real actors operate from behind the scenes, controlling the process. Most of those linked to this manipulation are associated with BNP politics.

Now, second- and third-tier trades have emerged. Even those not named in the initial complaint are often arrested as “suspects.” Which charges they face—murder, attempted murder, or assault—often depends on negotiations.

If an accused person seeks bail, the process reportedly hinges on the “approval” of BNP leaders or lawyers who claim control over the case. Even when bail is granted, further bargaining arises over whether that individual will be shown as arrested in a new case. This requires “managing” multiple points of influence.

There are also costs tied to official reports requested by the court or police headquarters. Without payment, even neutral individuals with no political links risk being labelled in reports as “close to” or “financial backers” of Awami League leaders.

Mezbah Uddin Khan (known as Senior Mezbah), the public prosecutor of the Feni District Judge Court and a BNP central committee member, told Prothom Alo that he has heard of cases where drafts of complaints are circulated with threats of adding names. He said the allegations of using cases to weaken opponents or for financial transactions are not entirely baseless, and these matters are widely discussed.

Discussions with victims and related sources suggest that, alongside BNP and Jubo Dal leaders, certain police officers are also involved. Among them, Additional Superintendent of Police (Sadar Circle) Md Ariful Islam Siddiqui has drawn the most criticism. He, along with two local police station officers-in-charge, was recently transferred.

Local political and police sources said that in the early days, anyone who tried to file a case related to the mass uprising incidents would have it accepted. At one point, after wide-scale inclusion of accused and the circulation of “case-business” became widespread, filing small, isolated cases gradually decreased. Then, attempts to file cases through the courts began.

Recently, there have been three attempts in Feni to file cases through the courts. All are currently under police investigation.

A businessman named in an attempted murder case, speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, said that drafts of complaints were prepared and sent via WhatsApp to him and other businessmen. The process was likened to casting a fishing net—essentially a “trial run” to see who would respond. Since he did not respond, he later found his name included in the official complaint.

The businessman said he had lived abroad for 19 years and returned to Dhaka to resume business about two years ago. Initially, he was sent a photo showing him attending a social event with a local Awami League leader of Sonagazi Upazila. After that, a draft complaint with his name was sent via WhatsApp. After discussion with friends and colleagues, he decided not to pay.

Prothom Alo spoke to 12 victims about this process of using draft complaints to demand money and removing names in exchange for payment. Most of them were businessmen, expatriates, or professionals.

The pattern was similar—after selecting a target, any photo or video linking the person to a local Awami League leader on social media would be used to imply that the person’s name would appear in a case. The draft complaint was then sent to the individual or their close associates.

One such victim, a physician, said that in November last year he received a draft complaint via WhatsApp with his name listed among the accused. He paid 40,000 taka to have his name removed. When he later checked at the police station, he learned that his name had originally been included but was later removed.

Speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, the physician said he held a government job and had no reason to be accused. The dispute may have arisen from competition among local clinics over which physician would see patients after official duty hours. This could explain why someone wanted his name included in the complaint.

Victims and local political sources said that a kind of ‘trade’ exists around adding or removing names from complaints. Beyond this, even after someone obtains bail from the court, they often have to pay a large sum to avoid being re-arrested at the prison gate. In these cases, politicians behind the cases provide advance information to the police about who will be present at the jail. Several police officers are also alleged to be involved in this process.

According to police headquarters records, as of 30 September, 845 people had been arrested in Feni in connection with “fascist activities.” Of these, 687 have been granted bail by the court.

Local sources said that some individuals granted bail were later shown as arrested in other cases. As a result, many had to spend between 50,000 and 400,000–500,000 taka to avoid being re-arrested at the prison gate.

A leader of an Awami League ward in Daganbhuiyan pourasava (who requested anonymity due to fear of re-arrest) was taken into custody on 11 February as a suspected accused in an attempted murder case. After nearly a month in jail, he obtained bail from the High Court. His family, however, received indications that he could be re-arrested at the prison gate. To avoid this, he had to pay 100,000 taka.

Another Awami League leader in Lalpur, Feni Sadar Upazila, spent time in jail in an attempted murder case and paid 400,000 taka to avoid re-arrest at the prison gate.

In Chhagalnaiya upazila, the former chairman of the border-adjacent Mahamaya Union, 70-year-old Shajahan Minu, was able to leave jail after bail by paying 300,000 taka to avoid being re-arrested.

Sources said that a network of jail officials, police officers, political party leaders, court lawyers, and their assistants operates around whether a person, after obtaining bail, is re-arrested at the prison gate or implicated in a new case. The former and current leaders of the district Jubo Dal are also alleged to be involved in this collusion.

Within this process, Feni Sadar Circle Additional Superintendent of Police Md. Ariful Islam Siddiqui’s name has been particularly highlighted. Alongside him, the recently transferred OCs of Chhagalnaiya and Sonagazi police stations, as well as an officer of the district police’s Special Branch, have also faced allegations. Additional SP Ariful Islam Siddiqui was transferred on 27 September to Satkania Circle in Chattogram District.

When asked whether the transfer was due to case manipulation, Feni District Superintendent of Police Md. Habibur Rahman told Prothom Alo that he was not aware of this. He said it could have been a routine transfer.

Although discussion about case manipulation in Feni is widespread, the police superintendent noted that no written complaints had been submitted to him on this matter. He publicly announced that anyone facing such harassment should submit a written complaint so that action can be taken against those responsible.

Ahmed Mahi, a businessman supplying oil to foreign vessels in Chattogram, was named as an accused in an attempted murder case at a Feni police station. He told Prothom Alo that initially he could not understand why he was accused. Later, he learned that he had been named in additional cases in Chattogram and Dhaka. Upon inquiry, he found that his business rivals had paid to get him implicated. All these cases were filed over the 4 August 2024 incident.

Similarly, a businessman supplying to the Directorate General of Defence Purchase in Dhaka was also named in two cases in Feni due to business disputes.

A local BNP leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that there have even been cases where the initiator of the case took money from both sides. One party paid to implicate someone due to a business or other dispute, while money was taken from the person named in order to remove their name. This kind of trade has been ongoing for a year.

Sheikh Farid Bahar, the Feni District BNP convener, also admitted to Prothom Alo that many businessmen and expatriates from Dhaka and Chattogram had been unnecessarily implicated in cases. He said that, as a party directive, he and Jamaat’s Amir instructed the police to stop such cases. Police stations now do not take these cases; instead, attempts are made to file them through the courts.

Since the July mass uprising, 22 cases have been filed in Feni. Of these, seven are murder cases and 15 are attempted murder cases. These cases include 2,199 named accused and nearly 4,000 unidentified suspects.

In the seven murder cases, the plaintiffs are directly the families of the deceased. However, local leaders of the BNP and Jamaat played a role in selecting the accused.

Sources said that in four of the murder cases, the BNP leaders decided who would be accused, while in the remaining three, the accused were chosen by Jamaat leaders.

Outside of these, in the 15 attempted murder cases filed at police stations, most plaintiffs do not know the accused. Political figures have primarily driven these cases from behind the scenes. Similarly, the three cases filed through the courts follow the same pattern.

 Abdul Hannan, Amir of Feni District Jamaat, told Prothom Alo that they supervise three murder cases, but the plaintiffs themselves submitted the names of the accused.

In Feni, two BNP leaders and their followers are frequently mentioned in connection with case manipulation. Among them is Mezbah Uddin Bhuiya, member-secretary of Feni pourasava BNP and a lawyer, also known as “Chhoto Mezbah.” He oversees cases related to the student-people uprising. Allegations suggest that he plays a central role in deciding who will be granted bail and who will be named as accused.

Within the fractured politics of Feni BNP, Mezbah Uddin is close to Moshiur Rahman, also known as Biplob, an executive member of the BNP central committee. Moshiur Rahman claims he has never heard of case trading in Feni.

Asked about case manipulation, Mezbah Uddin told Prothom Alo that in attempted murder cases, various individuals have named the accused in different ways. Some allegations of harassment and financial gain exist, but he denies any involvement.

Asked how he came to oversee these cases, Mezbah Uddin said the district BNP gave him the responsibility and that he also participated out of a sense of duty.

Sheikh Farid Bahar, convener of Feni district BNP, confirmed to Prothom Alo that the local BNP assigned Mezbah to supervise these cases.

Another influential figure in the mass uprising cases is Zakir Hossain (Jasim), former president of the district Jubo Dal. According to local sources, most plaintiffs in the attempted murder cases are his followers.

Zakir Hossain told Prothom Alo that whenever a case is filed, district BNP leaders decide the accused. “There is no trading involved here,” he said. He denied any involvement in case trading. He acknowledged that two cases had plaintiffs who are his associates and claimed that no one without an Awami League party position was named as accused.

Sources say that all murder and attempted murder cases include the name of former MP Nizam Hazari of Feni-2 (Sadar). Some cases also mention central Awami League leaders, including Sheikh Hasina, and ministers. In most cases, former Feni-3 MP Masud Uddin Chowdhury of the Jatiya Party is named. Initially, former Feni-1 MP Alauddin Chowdhury Nasim’s name was not included. After some reaction within the BNP, his name was later added to one murder and one attempted murder case.

However, in the formal charge sheets filed in Feni, Nizam Hazari and Masud Uddin Chowdhury are named, but Alauddin Nasim is not. Meanwhile, Sakhawat Hossain, who had opposed Nizam Hazari, suffered harassment and had been unable to enter Feni for the past 15 years, was named as an accused. There is ongoing discussion about how much the police and the politicians “in charge” of these cases influenced this.

People in Feni widely acknowledge that lawsuits after the July uprising last year have now become tools of local politics, personal disputes, and financial gain. Local politicians also admit this. Sheikh Farid Bahar, convener of the district BNP, told Prothom Alo, Everyone knows who shot, who tortured, during the uprising. There is no need to accuse people en masse. Very soon, the party will hold an extended meeting to take action against those involved in case trading.