Abducted or arrested?

Within the last two weeks, plainclothes men picked up six people under mysterious circumstances that point towards negligence and misuse of power by law enforcement agencies. All the incidents occurred in different villages of Jhenidah district. And even though one of those picked up have subsequently been freed and another shown arrested, four still remain missing.

After the abduction of one of the victims from his house, relatives received phone calls demanding ransom. He was later shown arrested. Another was picked up by plainclothes men who claimed to be from the police station, in the name of helping to find an accused person's location. He never returned, and the police station refused to accept a GD by family members.

Concerns over the police's misuse of power have been raised in the past. In 2003, the High Court directed that police officers need to disclose their identity and show ID cards on demand to the person arrested or those present at the time. The Supreme Court in 2016 upheld the directives, meaning police were barred from making plainclothes arrest under Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

As the incident of an "abducted" person ending up in the police station charged with a drug case show, the practice of indiscriminate arrests continues. Either criminals are posing as policemen to harass civilians, or there are elements within the force who are abusing their authority. Either way, the police's response to these cases has been grossly negligent. The matter calls for a proper investigation into these incidents and steps by the police to ensure that its members are not involved in flouting the law. Here, the implementation of the court directives by the government is crucial.