728 RAB personnel punished in 5 yrs

Light to stern punitive action were taken against 728 officers and personnel of the Rapid Action Battalion till September 16 on various charges since its inception on March 26, 2004.
Human rights groups have alleged some personnel of the battalion, composed of officers and personnel from different forces, got involved in crimes such as extrajudicial killing, torture and extortions.
The battalion’s director general Hasan Mahmud Khandker at a briefing on September 3 said 577 persons were killed in 472 incidents of ‘crossfire’ or ‘encounter’ with the battalion since its inception.
A number of cases have also been filed against the battalion officers and personnel on various charges including killing people in the name of ‘crossfire.’
In an incident, 10 battalion personnel were sued on June 16 on charges of killing two Dhaka Polytechnic Institute students on May 27 on Manik Mia Avenue..
A fruit trader on September 16 lodged an attempt-to-murder case against an assistant superintendent of police of the RAB 3.
The battalion the next day formed an inquiry committee into the attempt to murder allegation against the RAB-3 assistant superintendent Nuruzzaman lodged by the fruit trader.
In June, a criminal case was filed against three battalion officials, including an assistant superintendent of police, on charges of extortion. They were later sent to jail to face trial on extortion charges.
RAB personnel, it is alleged, have long been involved in various other criminal activities like nepotism, negligence of duty, and bribery.
Sources in the battalion said officers and personnel deputed to the battalion from different forces are entitled to an additional 70 per cent of their basic salaries in battalion allowance.
The battalion’s additional director general Mizanur Rahman Khan told New Age on September 16, ‘Punitive action was taken to maintain discipline in the force created to fight serious crimes.’
He claimed a stringent vigil has been ordered against activities such as professional misconduct or corruption to uphold the image of the force ‘which it earned through professional excellence in several years.’
The deputy chief of the battalion made the comments as the force, manned by the army, navy, air force, police and Bangladesh Rifles and Ansars personnel, came under media scrutiny in recent months after several incidents such as extortion, robbery or avenging themselves in settling personal scores by its personnel.
Asked about the allegation of attempt-to-murder against the RAB-3 assistant superintendent of police, he said, ‘We are going to form an inquiry committee to probe the allegation. We will take action against the RAB official if he is found guilty in the inquiry.’
‘We have already taken some measures to restrain RAB men from committing corruption through motivation and punishment,’ the RAB deputy chief said.
‘We first tried to motivate the corrupt RAB personnel not to get involved in corruption and other criminal activities,’ he said. ‘The corrupt RAB men who could not correct themselves would face exemplary punishment.’
RAB sources said out of the 728 RAB men, two Class I or commissioned officers were fired and 40 more officers of deputy assistant director level were given punishment for offences such as criminal activities, corruption, misconduct and unlawful activities.
Under minor punishments, the sources said, 296 personnel of different ranks were given warnings or reprimanded.
Punitive measures were taken under the RAB Ordinance and RAB Code of Conduct and Departmental Proceeding Regulations of 2005 by Special Court, Summary Court and Armed Police Battalion Act 2003, RAB sources said.
The battalion itself was empowered to try and jail its personnel for up to 10 years by instituting special and summary courts under the RAB ordinance, a RAB official said.
The official said 300 RAB men were dismissed from service or were given forced retirement while 10 others were jailed for varying terms after trial in criminal courts under the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure.
‘We have recently sent back 132 personnel, mostly military personnel, to their parent organisations with recommendations for punitive action against them while 27 others were already punished by their parent organisations,’ he said.