See vests, demand ID cards: DMP

Amid a growing number of allegations of abduction by detective police impersonators in the capital, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) yesterday urged the city dwellers to inform them immediately if anyone conducts a raid without wearing the specified vest and carrying the identity card.

"Those who conduct drives to arrest people without wearing the specified vest and the identity card are not members of DB [Detective Branch]. If we are informed, we will take instant action against them," said DMP spokesperson Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam.

If such incidents happen, people should contact local police or phone directly to the police control room, he told a press conference at DMP media centre. DB men wear their vests and show identity cards during raids, and in many cases, take help from the local police station, he claimed.

The official said they had consulted with the ministry concerned to formulate a law prohibiting the sale of the force's operational equipment including handcuffs.

DMP organised the briefing to disclose Sunday's arrest of three DB impersonators who had picked up two siblings in their microbus from Elephant Road area.

The two brothers, Bazlur Rahman and Abdul Latif, who own Misa Money Exchange Company at Motijheel, were waiting for a bus to go to Motijheel after withdrawing Tk 20 lakh from a bank in Dhanmondi.

As a DB team led by Mia Kutubur Rahman Chowdhury was passing the area at that time, they chased and caught the three impersonators Abu Bakar Siddique, Abul Hossain and Sharif Hossain. Two accomplices of the arrestees, however, fled with the money.