45 arrests, 45 bails: Repeat offender caught again

Forty-five arrests. Forty-five bail orders. And on his 46th arrest this week, police found Tayeeb Ali Sardar exactly where he started – preparing a robbery in a police uniform.

Tayeeb Ali Sardar, 45, from Madaripur, was first arrested in a robbery case filed with Bhanga police station in Faridpur on 18 August 2022, after committing the offence while wearing a police uniform. 

He was subsequently released on bail and went on to face 44 further cases involving robbery, dacoity, mugging, kidnapping and theft, filed with police stations across Dhaka, Faridpur, Shariatpur, Munshiganj, Sirajganj, Madaripur, Gopalganj, Feni, Cumilla, Narayanganj and Narsingdi between 18 August 2022 and 20 March 2024. 

He was arrested each time and granted bail on every occasion, police said.

According to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Tayeeb ran his operations mainly through a gang that included several dismissed military personnel. 

In the latest arrest, the Lalbagh Crime Division detained him along with six associates – Pavel Sardar,  a dismissed Navy officer; Rabbi Alam, a dismissed Army personnel; Saifur Rahman; Imran Hossain Bhuiyan; Nurul Islam; and Md Ismail – in Kamrangirchar in the early hours of 14 August, as the group was allegedly preparing to carry out a robbery while dressed as police officers. 

A fresh case has since been filed against Tayeeb and the others.

Police said Tayeeb's involvement had also emerged in two further dacoities and one attempted dacoity, in Jatrabari, Khilkhet and Kamrangirchar.

Mohammad Osman Goni, additional commissioner (Estate, Development and ICT) at the DMP, said Tayeeb had been arrested 45 times over 45 cases but was granted bail on each occasion for reasons that remained unclear, before returning to his former activities. 

He said statements recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, taken from suspects arrested over a robbery in Jatrabari in May, had implicated Tayeeb, who was also found to have been involved in a robbery on 13 July at the Kuril Bishwa Road flyover under Khilkhet police station. 

"We are working hard to arrest criminals, but they are being granted bail. If we are to secure the megacity, a united effort is needed from all stakeholders," he said.

Md Omar Faruk, a crime analyst and professor of criminology and police science at Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, said courts should carefully weigh bail applications in cases involving individuals wanted in multiple serious offences, including robbery, kidnapping, dacoity and mugging, since such offenders often reoffend after release. 

He said courts should also direct police to monitor such individuals and submit periodic reports, adding that continued bail for repeat offenders would keep the crime rate rising. Dr Taimur Alam Khandaker, a senior advocate at the Supreme Court, said courts have the authority to grant bail, and are often left with little choice when police fail to build strong cases and the prosecution does not carry out its duties properly. Supreme Court lawyer Istiak Ahmed said individuals against whom charge sheets have been filed in multiple cases should not be granted bail.

No comment could be obtained from the law ministry.