Staff Reporter:
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has listed 500 policemen who have allegedly been involved in political repression and brutality, the disruption of opposition programs and activists, enforced disappearances, and killings over the past few years.
The list was prepared based on information provided by affected BNP activists and their families across the country.
BNP sources said the list contains the names of a total of 500 policemen who were on duty in various districts during and before the 2018 national elections. All of them have now been promoted and are working in various major positions in the police.
Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, standing committee member of the BNP, said the party would next list government officials “who were involved in vote robbery and obstructing programs of BNP all over Bangladesh.”
BNP’s list of police officials includes 55 at the rank of Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Additional DIG, or Superintendent of Police (SP) level. They include 13 officials in Dhaka Division and 11 in Chittagong. The BNP claims most of them were involved in voting irregularities in various districts during the 2018 election.
A member of the data collection committee that prepared the report said: “I received this information from all over the country, almost from the district. But we will not reveal the name of any person or official now.”
BNP’s International Affairs Secretary Barrister Rumeen Farhana said the list would definitely be presented to an international committee once.
A senior leader on the BNP’s standing committee told Dhaka Tribune: “The names on this list are associated with political persecution. It will be used when needed with information and evidence. Apart from the senior officers of the police, the list of the subordinate officers of the force involved in various cases of disappearance-murder, harassment, and disappearance will be finalized. It will be stored in the archive of the party and presented to the international community.”
BNP Standing Committee Member Selima Rahman said: “As a political party, we can do many things. We can talk about the political oppression that has brutally affected us. If it is with a list and evidence, we can do that too. This is like an open secret.”
BNP claims that the government from 2009 to 2022 killed thousands of the party’s leaders and disappeared 600 people across the country.
The government has also filed 150,000 cases against 3.6 million BNP activists, and 20,000 of these activists are still in prison, according to the party’s report.
The opposition party, which has been out of power since 2006, formed a 14-member “Information Collection Committee” on May 23 to collect information on people “obstructing their peaceful program to restore democracy across the country.”
BNP wrote to all district presidents and general secretaries at the end of last month, asking for information about the police officers involved in “activities.” Meanwhile, most of the district leaders have submitted their reports to the BNP central unit.
