Civil society members concerned over abduction, killing incidents

FE Report | Published: May 09, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Members of the civil society at a roundtable in the city Thursday expressed their deep concern over the growing incidents of abduction and killing.
They said the chain of command in the law-enforcing agencies has completely broken down due to what they termed 'politicisation of institutions'.
Raising question about the role of the elite force -- Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) -- they said it is the high time to rethink whether the 'controversial force' formed in 2004 will exist or not.
Mentioning the alleged involvement of some Rab personnel in the recent sensational abduction and killing incidents in Narayanganj, the civil society members called for government's immediate measures to bring the accused to book.
They also came down heavily on the culture of indemnity offered to the security agencies and individuals by the current and previous governments for the situation.
In the wake of alarming rise in the incidents of abduction and killing in the recent months across the country, Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik (Sujan) organised the roundtable titled 'Forced Disappearance, Abduction: Citizens' Concern and Way-outs' at the National Press Club in the capital.
While presenting the keynote paper at the discussion, former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder said in accordance with the country's existing laws no individual or institution can take the responsibility of giving punishment to anyone for their offences.
"If it happens, it will be a punishable crime and the effectiveness of the state will be in question," he said.
Mentioning some of the sensational incidents of kidnapping in the recent years, he said the perpetrators of those crimes haven't been punished yet, prompting others to commit such offences again.
"We're now in a position of extreme worry and we want to get rid of it," Sujan General Secretary Badiul Alam Majumder said.
Sharing the year-wise data of the police administration on the offence of kidnapping, he said the trend of abductions all over the country is growing alarmingly as a total of 792 kidnapping incidents were recorded in 2011 followed by 850 in 2012, 879 in 2013 and 196 in the first three months of the current calendar year.        
Former Inspector General of Police (IGP) A S M Shahjahan said the law and order situation has gone beyond the control as the state security agencies have completely failed to do their duties relating to public security.
He termed lack of accountability among the law enforcement agencies as one of the main reasons behind the lawlessness.
"All the stakeholders, including the political parties, need to move back strongly by giving up all the differences to overcome the situation as there is no alternative," he suggested.
Security expert and former Election Commissioner Brig Gen (Retd) M Shakhawat Hossain said a state can fail not only for economic reasons but also for administrative breakdown.
He termed the recent incident of seven murders in Narayanganj a planned one as it is known that the boatmen, whose boats are believed to be used in drowning the dead bodies in Shitalakkhya River, went missing since the occurrence.
"That means, the killers wanted to exterminate all the eyewitnesses to avert any legal action. So, it will be a very complicated case for the investigators to find clues," he said.
He also raised the issue of checking the financial and social background of the officers who will be recruited or deputed in police and Rab to avert such things in the coming days.
Eminent columnist Syed Abul Maksud said this type of criminal offences would continue to happen unless the politicians do not come out of the culture of corrupt politics.
He branded the incident of seven murders in Narayanganj as not an isolated one, saying that the government should pay serious attention to it.
"Now, everything depends on the will of the government. It will really be a matter of serious concern if the government wants to camouflage the issue," he said.
Speaking on the occasion, a politician and convener of Nagorik Oikyo Mahmudur Rahman Manna was very critical of the current role of the government, saying that move is on to divert the killings issue in the name of 'internal conflict'.
Citing media reports, he said the main accused in the case of seven murders Nur Hussein escaped to India and another accused Md Yasin flew to Singapore soon after the killings.
"And our security officials helped them to escape by showing a dillydallying attitude in the case," he said adding that time has now come to rethink about the necessity of the controversial Rab in the present context of the country.
Trustee Board Member of Transparency International Bangladesh M Hafizuddin Khan expressed his dissatisfaction over the role of the main political parties - Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) -- saying that the political parties should stop the blame game over the issue of the seven murders.
"People from all strata, including politicians, should come up in a united way to overcome the national crisis. Otherwise, such incidents will continue to happen," he said.
Apart from the businessmen, politicians, professionals and rights activists, general people now feel insecurity as incidents of abduction or disappearance have been occurring frequently and silently, the speakers said.
Former justice Kazi Ebadul Hoque, among others, spoke on the occasion with the tune of frustration over the current law and order situation.
The fear and panic of being kidnapped was largely spread among the citizens in the second half of April last when unidentified kidnappers abducted businessman Abu Bakar Siddique, husband of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) chief executive Syeda Rizwana Hasan.
Fortunately, the abductors released him after 35 hours of captivity. It is believed that the miscreants set him free in fear of getting into further trouble because of the pressure of the media.
In less than two weeks of the sensational abduction, seven people, including NCC (Narayanganj City Corporation) panel mayor Nazrul Islam and lawyer Chandan Sarkar, were abducted allegedly by the members of Rab-11 unit from Dhaka-Narayanganj link road.
Their bodies were found from Shitalakkhya River three days after their disappearances, which also sparked violent protests in the district.