A section of complainants has filed cases accusing several hundred people after the August 5 changeover and are now extorting money from the accused by promising to remove their names from the cases, DMP Commissioner Sheikh Md Sazzad Ali said on Sunday.
Some police personnel are also involved in the illicit trade, he said while talking to the executive committee of the Crime Reporters' Association of Bangladesh (CRAB) at his office.
The commissioner stated that they are going to take action against responsible police personnel and ordered officers-in-charge of the concerned police stations to sue those complainants with extortion charges.
"The incidents are real, but 200, 300 or even more people were made accused. A new trend has now emerged where complainants are calling the accused and demanding money, promising to remove their names from the cases or withdraw the cases," he said.
"I think this is one type of collecting extortion. On Saturday, I ordered the officer-in-charge of Bhatara Police Station to file an extortion case against a complainant," he added.
"He has made so many accused with an ill motive. During filing the case, he put names of Sheikh Hasina and some top political leaders and then included the names of many affluent people of his neighbourhood… Now, he is taking money from each of the accused," the DMP chief elaborated.
Family members of the victims filed many cases with different police stations. Apart from the family members, neighbours, and activists of different political parties filed many cases accusing several hundred people.
This paper earlier reported that many such complainants filed the cases without taking permission from the victims or their families and they implicated many people from their home districts, though the incident occurred in Dhaka city. This paper also reported that many complainants appealed to the courts to remove some of the names of the accused, saying they mistakenly included their names.
In the meeting with the CRAB leaders, the DMP chief Sazzad said neither the complainants nor the police have the authority to withdraw a case. Only the home ministry can do it.
Additionally, the complainant cannot remove names from the case; only the investigation officers can do so after completing their probe, he said. "We will deal with it with a strong hand and take legal action against such complainants," he said.
The commissioner said the innocent accused, including journalists, need not worry as police will not harass or arrest any innocent persons. Those who are found to be involved will be in the charge-sheet, he added.
"The cases will not be destroyed as the incidents are real. We will build the case differently, keeping some of the accused [after completing the investigation]… So journalists in the cases will be automatically relieved," he added.
