1,911 case files ‘go missing’ from Chattogram court

A Correspondent:
Chattogram: Case Documents (CDs) of 1,911 cases have reportedly gone missing from the Chatto-gram court.
The matter came to light after the Public Prosecutor (PP) of Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court Mofizul Haque Bhuiyan filed a general diary (GD) at the Kotwali Police Station on Monday.
Lawyers said these case documents are crucial for proving guilt’s and their disappearance could severely impede justice.
According to court sources, the office of the Metropolitan PP is located on the third floor of the Chattogram court building, adjacent to the session’s judge courtroom and other judicial chambers.
The missing case documents were stored in plastic bags along the veranda outside the PP’s office due to space constraints.
These documents, belonging to 28 to 30 courts, were kept there on April 24, 2023.
The documents might have gone missing during the court’s holiday recess between December 13 and December 31, 2024.
District Bar Association President Mohammad Nazim Uddin Chowdhury said without these files, cases risk delays or even collapse.
PP Mofizul Haque Bhuiyan termed the disappearance a serious breach of security.
“This is no trivial matter. Those responsible for removing these files must be identified. It’s possi-ble that defendants may have planned this to gain undue advantage in their cases,” he said.