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The much discussed “Ayna Ghor” detention cells and “bhaater hotel” – the practice of police detectives offering lunch to people coming to file complaints at the Detective Branch - are now a thing of the past, says Home Advisor Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury.
“Now there is no such thing as Ayna Ghor. There’ll be no Ayna Ghor or bhaater hotel any longer,” he said in response to a question while visiting the Dhaka Metropolitan Police headquarters on Monday.
The Awami League government allegedly detained many people who disagreed with the government extra-judicially and kept them in secret detention centres at undisclosed locations. Those secret prisons were dubbed “Ayna Ghor”.
Some of those detained at such hotels returned to their families after many days and shared their horrid experiences, while others have yet to be found, reports bdnews24.com.
The Commission of Inquiry into Enforced Disappearances formed by the interim government said it had found similar detention centres at the offices of several law enforcement agencies.
Meanwhile, Harun Or Rashid, the last additional commissioner of the Detective Branch during the Awami League regime, stirred debate and drew flak for giving lunch to those coming to the DB office to file complaints. The practice resulted in the DB office being referred to as a “bhaater hotel” - a wayside food stall selling traditional meals like rice and lentils. Harun went into hiding after the fall of the Awami League government.
“The DB officers can’t arrest anyone while they’re wearing plainclothes,” Home Advisor Jahangir said. “They must wear their jackets and show ID cards. They can’t do anything beyond the purview of the law. Even if I order them to do something beyond the law, they should never do it.”
Speaking of his discussions with DB officials, he said: “The law and order situation in the country is good overall, but there is scope to make it better. We discussed how to do it.”
He admitted that the number of mugging incidents had gone up.
“I won’t disagree that the number of mugging incidents went up, but many muggers have been caught.”
In response to a question about migrant workers being held hostage for ransom in Libya, the advisor said the perpetrators would be brought to justice if the victims came to them. “If you people know one or two of them, please send them to us. We will take action.”
"Those who got stuck in Libya while originally planning to go to some other countries are a big source of our income. They work very hard to send money home. They’re a major resource. We’ll do our best for them.”
The reporters also asked about the recent kidnappings in Teknaf.
The responded that all of the victims had been rescued.
“All of you are aware of the situation at the Myanmar border. The Myanmar area across our border belt is now under the control of the Arakan Army. There Myanmar government is not seeing to the law and order there.”
"We have to keep contact with both sides- the Arakan Army and the Myanmar government. The Arakan Army, however, isn’t an authorised entity. The Myanmar government is legal. There’s a big problem, but we’re keeping in contact with both parties.”
Jahangir also said the Bangladesh authorities had full control over the border and remained vigilant to ensure the border area was calm and peaceful.
He added that drug traffickers were also “active” in Teknaf.
Regarding the 321 sub-inspectors who were dismissed from their jobs, the advisor said that no academy would accept a person who defies the discipline and the police force was one of the oldest and most respected agencies in the sub-continent.
"The way they’re causing disruptions now shows that they were dismissed for breaking the rules. If they were disciplined, they could have submitted applications properly. They could report to the IG if the Police Academy didn’t function properly. But they took to the street instead. This shows that they were always lacking discipline.”
The advisor also said that local media had published the truth to “counter the false propaganda” of the Indian media.
This has led to decrease in “false propaganda” by the India media, he said.
"If you publish the truth, it’s easy for us to take action.”