SI Aksaduzzaman

A former CID sub-inspector was arrested yesterday, nearly 11 months after he was accused of leading a gang to rob a migrant worker who was on his way to the Dhaka airport to go to Dubai.

The incident came to light on Tuesday as part of an investigation by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch.

That day, a phone call was leaked containing negotiations allegedly between the family of the offending CID official and a "senior DB official", with the aim of the conversation being to let the culprit off the hook.

The Daily Star has heard the record of the conversation.

Additional Commissioner (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, AKM Hafiz Akter told The Daily Star that there was a highway robbery near Kawla in the capital last October.

The victim was Md Roman, who lost different currencies worth Tk 4.78 lakh in the robbery. He filed a robbery case with the Airport Police Station the next day.

According to the first information report filed by the victim, on October 19, 2020, the autorickshaw he was in was intercepted by a microbus.

"Two individuals got down from the car, introduced themselves as DB police officials, and shoved me and my brother inside the car. They put handcuffs on us, blindfolded us, and beat us up. They dumped us near the Rampura staff quarters the next morning," the victim said in the case statement.

ADC Akter said several incidents of robbery have taken place all over the city in recent times, and in many instances it was claimed that DB officials were involved.

"But we had failed to identity those involved in the robbery. Finally, we could track down the ring following the incident at Kawla and found that six people, including sub-inspector of CID Aksaduzzaman, were involved in this robbery and looting," he said.

Following the leak of the phone call on Tuesday night, SI Aksaduzzaman was arrested yesterday morning.

"Our investigation is at the final stage and the charge sheet will be submitted soon," he said, adding that two of those arrested in the intervening period have already given their confessional statements.

Aksaduzzaman faced departmental action, and was fired after the case was filed, said the police official.

In the leaked phone call, supposedly the wife of the SI, kept alleging that she gave Tk 1.28 crore to a certain senior DB official and kept alleging that she personally gave Tk 14 lakh to DB's deputy police commissioner Kaysar Rizvi Korayshi.

When contacted, Korayshi said the audio clip was fabricated and that the man speaking on the phone was not him.

"The SI's wife has been requesting us to give him clearance. The audio is fabricated. I have had no conversation like that. This is not my voice. This is them trying to frame me," he claimed.

"We will investigate the phone call to see whether these claims are true," said ADC Akter when asked to comment on the allegation of bribery against DC Korayshi.

"As the process of submitting charge sheet is at the final stage, the accused are trying desperately to stop this process," he added.

Aksaduzzaman could not be reached as he was arrested yesterday morning.

One of the people allegedly present during the robbery, one Hasan Raja, gave a confessional statement to the CID stating that he received Tk 70,000 as his share of the booty.

The driver of the microbus, Harunur Rashid Shajib, also gave a confessional statement stating that SI Aksaduzzaman took him along, saying there would be a raid.

Amir Hossain Talukder, among those accused, told The Daily Star that his wife had given Tk 16.5 lakh to Aksaduzzaman's wife to facilitate Amir's release.

"My brother sold a shop in Shariatpur and arranged the money. My wife gave the money to the CID officer's wife to get me released.

"When I wanted proof, she played a phone conversation between her and a DB official," Amir told The Daily Star.

Amir claimed that he was framed in the case.