A Dhaka court on Monday placed Police Constable Md Rezaul Karim, who was in charge of evidence disposal at Dhaka Lower Court evidence room (malkhana), on a three-day remand after he was arrested with 1,790 pieces of Yaba tablets.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Monjurul Islam granted the three-day remand following a hearing after the investigating officer produced him in court and submitted a three-day remand application.
Confirming the remand order, state counsel Harun-Or-Rashid said seized narcotics are brought to the court’s malkhana for destruction.
He said interrogation under remand is necessary to ascertain how 1,790 pieces of Yaba tablets were found in the possession of an officer on duty there, from where he obtained them, and where he was preparing to supply them.
According to court sources, the constable was serving in the evidence disposal branch of the Court Prosecution Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
He was arrested with the Yaba tablets on Sunday night from “Bismillah Biryani Ghor” on Walter Road in Sutrapur, Old Dhaka.
As stated in the case complaint, a special operational team from CPSC-2 of the SRB-3 Moghbazar camp received secret information that an individual was staying inside Bismillah Biryani Ghor on Walter Road in Sutrapur to sell Yaba tablets.
Upon reaching the scene to verify the tip-off, the SRB team observed the man attempting to flee cleverly, but he was detained with the assistance of the present operational team and witnesses.
A body search conducted in the presence of the detainee Rezaul Karim led to the recovery of 1,790 pieces of blue and orange Yaba tablets, weighing 179 grammes, from the front right pocket of his trousers.
The estimated illicit market value of the recovered drugs is around Tk5.5 lakh. Cash earned from drug sales and a Vivo brand smartphone were also seized from his possession as evidence.
Following his handover to Sutrapur Police Station along with the seized evidence, Police Inspector (Town and Traffic) Md Kamruzzaman filed a case as the plaintiff under the Narcotics Control Act.
In the remand petition, the investigating officer of the case, Sutrapur Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Suman Kumar Chatterjee, said three days of questioning under remand is required to determine where the accused collected the Yaba from, who he sells it to, and whether anyone else is involved.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the DMP’s Prosecution Division, Mohiuddin Mahmud Sohel, could not be reached over phone for comment regarding the matter.
