CID probe vexes all
Unhappy with a CID report on the abduction of Kalpana Chakma in 1996, a Rangamati court yesterday set Wednesday to decide whether there would be a judicial enquiry.
The additional chief judicial magistrate of Rangamati said the Criminal Investigation Department report could not be accepted as it failed to provide the court with a fair and an impartial account.
The judge yesterday said he would consult relevant documents before deciding whether a judicial enquiry or further investigation would be the best course of action.
On the night of June 12, 1996, a few men, allegedly led by an army officer, kidnapped Kalpana, the then organising secretary of Hill Women's Federation, from her home at New Lalyaghona of Baghaichhari in Rangamati.
She has been missing since then and presumed assassinated.
The counsels for the plaintiff Kalindi Kumar Chakma, elder brother of Kalpana, pleaded for a judicial enquiry yesterday citing faults and limitations of the CID report.
The CID report submitted on September 26, 2012, could neither identify the abductors of the hill woman activist nor trace her whereabouts.
During the hearing yesterday, Kalindi narrated the kidnapping incident of his younger sister before the court.
“I don't understand how the CID enquiry team members dropped the names of the culprits as I clearly told them their names. I identified three men, Lieutenant Ferdous, commander of village defence party (VDP) Nurul Haque and its member Saleh Ahmed. I reject the report of the CID and I pray for reinvestigation of the case,†said Kalindi.
The judge, upon hearing the counsels and the plaintiff, expressed his dissatisfaction with the CID report and said the police should face legal action for their deliberate failure to uncover the truth.
“How can it be that the police didn't even investigate the names that were in the First Investigation Reports [FIRs]?†he asked, angrily.
The magistrate said the judiciary in Rangamati lacked the manpower and logistical support to deal with such a complicated case and asked for alternative suggestions.
The counsels insisted on a judicial enquiry.
The judge then said he needed to consult the case docket and people concerned to deliver his verdict on January 16 (Wednesday).
The judge said the indigenous community was constantly under persecution and that lawyers should be vocal against such heinous crimes like forced disappearance and killing of the people of hill communities.
“If such trends continue, the community would become extinct,†he said.
Jewel Dewan of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust, Mokhtar Ahmed, the president of Rangamati Bar Association, and Supreme Court lawyer Nina Goswami pleaded for the plaintiff while court inspector Jasimuddin Khan defended the state.
After the hearing, Kalindi told reporters that he was hopeful that the court would do justice in its verdict.
This CID investigation was the second probe conducted by the police. The first report was rejected on September 2, 2010, for its failure to identify the abductors and trace Kalpana. A court had ordered further investigation after hearing a petition filed by Kalindi.
Prior to that, on September 7, 1996, the government had formed a three-member enquiry commission, led by retired judge Abdul Jalil, which also produced similar inconclusive observations.
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