A Cox’s Bazar court has sentenced seven members of Detective Branch of Police to 12 years in jail in connection with two cases for kidnapping a trader and demanding a ransom of Tk 17 lakh for his release.
The court sentenced the convicted cops to five years in jail for kidnapping and another seven years for extortion by putting a person in fear of death. However, both the sentences will run simultaneously and the convicts will serve a total of seven years in jail.
Cox’s Bazar District and Sessions Court judge Mohammad Ismail delivered the verdict on Tuesday in the presence of all the convicts.
The judge also fined them each Tk 1 lakh and ordered them to undergo an additional one year in prison for non-payment of the fine.
The convicts are sub inspectors Moniruzzaman, 35, and Abul Kalam Azad, 39, additional sub-inspectors Golam Mostafa, 36, Firoz Ahmed, 34, and Alauddin, 32, and constables Mostafa Ajal, 52, and MD Al Amin, 26.
On September 24, 2017, the seven cops kidnapped Abdul Gafur, a trader hailing from Teknaf and later demanded Tk 17 lakh as ransom from his family by threatening to kill him in a fake encounter.
According to the case complaint, Bangladesh Army captured six of the accused with the ransom amount from the Marin Drive in Cox’s Bazar on October 25, 2017.
Later, another absconding detective was arrested by the police.
Abdul, the victim, filed a complaint with Teknaf police, based on which a case for kidnapping and extortion was lodged.
In August, 2018, Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) submitted a chargesheet in this case against the seven detectives.
On September 5 this year, the court rejected the bail pleas of the seven cops.
MS
