The police have submitted an affidavit before the High Court (HC) stating that the Dhaka range police as well as police of the Rajshahi, Khulna, Chittagong and Sylhet ranges have taken initiatives to stop extortion by the police themselves as well as by criminals from transporters on the highways across the country. On July 28, a High Court bench, in a suo motu order, directed the inspector general of police to submit a report within 72 hours about the steps taken to stop extortion by the police.
An HC bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain issued the order after taking cognisance of a newspaper report headlined ‘Police extortion adds to goods prices,’ published in a national daily on July 27.
In response to the HC directive, the police submitted an affidavit before the court through deputy attorney general Biswojit Roy.
In its affidavit, the police said senior officials of the highway police held a meeting at its headquarters soon after the court directive. The highway police and officers-in-charge of the police stations have been asked to take necessary steps to eradicate extortion, snatching and all crimes committed in and around highways. The police have also deployed separate patrol teams on the highways to stop extortion, according to the petition.
The authorities have also assigned honest police officers in plainclothes to look into cases of highway extortion, if any, the petition said.
-With The Independent input
