Police ‘reluctance’ to record cases leads to rise in crimes

Police stations are sometimes allegedly reluctant to record criminal cases, which encourages criminals to commit more crimes.

Police Headquarters have given strict instructions to record cases with the importance of incidents, but police stations are not going by the directives.

Many victims have to lobby with politicians, their relatives in police and other departments of the government to request police stations concerned for recording the cases.

Additional Commissioner (DB) Harun-or-Rashid told a press briefing recently that many officers-in-charge (OCs) do not want to record cases on theft charges.

“Many OCs think if they record theft cases, they have to find out thieves and they have to work much. As to why, the OCs do not want take the cases. There are also examples that many victims do not want to lodge cases. They rather file GDs,” he said.

Harun then urged the victims of theft to lodge cases instead of filing GDs.

“If police stations refuse to record the cases, you (victims) will come to DB office to get legal help,” said Harun.

Recently, a woman, who is the mother of three children, lodged a complaint with IGP’s Complaint Cell at the Police Headquarters, stating that she worked at the house of a powerful person in exchange for a monthly salary at Tk 20,000 in Gulshan.

“On February 7, I was raped by three men at the house and the scene was filmed by a mobile phone. Later, on March 24, I was called in the house again and showed the video. The three men again raped me by threatening that the video would be spread on social media.”

“Being raped for the second time, I decided to file a case against them. I went to Gulshan Police Station on April 27, but OC Forman Ali did not record my case. The OC misbehaved with me,” said the victim.

Afterwards, the woman met deputy commissioner of Gulshan Crime Division Abdul Ahad who phoned the OC and asked to record the case.

“After the phone of the DC, I met Inspector (Investigation) of the police station Shahinur Rahman and he received my written complaint, and asked me to meet him next day. When I went to meet him next day, he denied that he did not receive any such complaint,” said the woman in the complaint placed to the Police Headquarters.

When contacted, OC Forman Ali told the Daily Sun that he was unaware that any woman came to him with such a complaint.

Several days before Eid-ul-Fitr, some robbers stormed into a house owned by Abdur Rahim at Joduboyra at Kumarkhali in Kushtia.

The family members of the house quickly contacted police through the national emergency service 999 and police rushed to the spot and thwart the robbery attempt.

Abdur Rahim said he went to Kumarkhali Police Station to lodge a case, but the police refused to record it.

The criminals who stormed into the house are still untraced, he added.

When contacted, Assistant Inspector General (Media and Public Relations) of Police Manzur Rahman told the Daily Sun that police record cases taking the seriousness of incidents into consideration.

“If policemen do not record serious and important cases, departmental actions are taken against them,” he said.