Faim Khan, 21, from Cumilla was arrested in a robbery case filed at Sutrapur police station in the capital city on 17 January but got released on bail on the next day.
At least 150 accused in cases filed on charges of mugging, robbery and dacoity in Dhaka like him got released on bail in the last two and a half months. Of them, 40 were released on bail in the first two working days of the last week, police sources said.
The policing broke down after the fall of Sheikh Hasina in the student-people uprising, creating apprehension among the people.
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) identified 279 mugging-prone areas in Dhaka and surrounding areas.
The law enforcement agencies also have started raids to detain people involved in mugging and robbery around the country. Many were arrested on different charges too. But the recent incidents of release on bail of those accused have made the law enforcement agencies worried.
According to the police, as many as 426 incidents of robbery took place between August last year and February this year, which was 182 in the same period previous year. That means those incidents have increased by 134 per cent in the country. In January and February alone, 146 incidents of robbery took place which was only 62 in the previous year.
In the last seven months, there were 1,038 incidents of dacoity, up from 735 in the same time previous year. The number was 422 in January and February this year. The number of such incidents was 235 in January and February last year.
In this context, the police headquarters have issued stern directives to prevent the incidents of robbery, dacoity and mugging. The field level officials have also been directed to find out if those accused are finding out any path to “manage” someone to secure their bail.
The officials have also been directed to find out whether the accused are being charged under relatively weaker sections.
Speaking about this, police headquarters’ DIG (operations) Md Rezaul Karim told Prothom Alo, “Tackling crimes like mugging and robbery was one of our biggest challenges after 5 August. Such criminals are being arrested by conducting joint operations to bring peace among the people.”
He further said that strict instructions have been given to the field-level officials to keep an eye on the issue so that actual criminals do not get released by exploiting loopholes in the law.
Current picture of bail
For a long time, the field level officials have been alleging that the accused in mugging and robbery are resuming those crimes once they are getting bail from the court. The police headquarters had asked various police units to prepare a list of such accused along with lawsuits and arrests. This has provided a picture of the accused getting bail.
According to the prosecution of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), 852 were arrested in 320 mugging cases from 1 January to 8 March in Dhaka. Of them, 142 got released on bail. Two of them were shown arrested in other cases.
As per the CrPC, if the number of people involved in a dacoity crosses four, the case is recorded as a robbery incident.
Police sources said the law enforcement agencies have informed the government of their grievances regarding bail release of accused arrested in mugging cases and on charges of attacking the student-people movement.
In this context, the government has issued directives, so that the actual criminals do not get released.
Speaking about this, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge court’s chief public prosecutor Omar Faruk told Prothom Alo, “With most of the people involved in crimes like extortion, mugging and robbery in jail, such crimes have decreased.”
He further said, “Some accused may be granted bail due to the weakness of the case. But, we from the prosecution are showing zero tolerance in this regard. Even after this, if someone is granted bail unusually, that matter should be investigated.”
Surveillance on the bail released
The police headquarters has also instructed the field level officials to keep an eye whether the accused in mugging and robbery cases are getting involved in crimes anew after getting released on bail.
They have been instructed to “shown arrest” such professionals in other cases.
There have also been discussions to inform the OCs of relevant police stations if such accused are released on bail.
DMP deputy commissioner (media and public relations) Muhammad Talebur Rahman told Prothom Alo that the professional criminals are under the surveillance of the police.
Relevant people said a court can grant bail to anyone taking into consideration the magnitude of crime and the context. But in many cases it was seen that negligence in supervising the cases leads to release on bail of the criminals. The law and order situation could deteriorate if professional criminals are released on bail.
Md Tawohidul Haque, associate professor of the Institute of Social Welfare and Research at Dhaka University, told Prothom Alo that in most cases, there is a “bail trade” behind the bails before Eid.
In some cases, actual criminals are helped to secure bail by producing them before the court in weak cases and presenting details of the crime lightly, he remarked.
That is why, it has to be looked at with due importance whether there is someone’s negligence or malicious intent behind such bail releases.