Stop harassment: Disappearance victims’ families ask police
PBC News: Relatives of the victims of enforced disappearance have alleged that police are putting pressure and harassing them in the name of investigation. Harassment of police at houses of the victims must be stopped, they demanded.
They made this allegation at a press conference arranged by ‘Mayer Dak’ at National Press Club in Dhaka on Saturday.
However, police have already denied this allegation. Dhaka Metropolitan Police in a statement on Friday protested reports run by different media outlets on the police harassment. The reports contained “exaggerated” and “fabricated” information and it was an attempt to tarnish police’s image, the DMP claimed.
In press conference, Nagorik Oikya convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna said, “Police were intimidating the families of the victims of enforced disappearance in various ways by visiting their houses in the name of investigation. They (relatives of the victims) have already said each of them is being interrogated at their houses.
They are being called to the police station and many of them are forced to sign in blank papers.”
They are currently suffering from insecurity, he added.
Manna said police want that the relatives of the victims would write that they had lost their family members. “What will police do after taking sign on blank papers? So they (police) have to show the paper somewhere, and then would say they didn’t disappeared, it is their fault.”
He further said, “Is there any case against police? I don’t know if there is any case at court. But usually the accused try to make such documents. This government has made police to stand on the dock of the accused.”
Alleging that 600 to 700 families of the victims of enforced disappearance went to police station to lodge a complaint but t police did not take it, said Manna adding that it has finally been talked about internationally.
“We want to know about the whereabouts of the disappeared people,” he added.
Disappeared BNP leader Sumon’s sister said, harassment of police at houses of the victims of disappeared families in the name of investigation must be stopped.
“We want to let them investigate in a proper way, let them do the necessary search to get the missing people back.”
Relatives of the victims of enforced disappearance displayed photos of their missing near and dear ones at the press conference. Some displayed photos of their son and daughter while other showed the photos of father, brother and others.
