Cantonment OC withdrawn over viral audio clip taken to DB office for questioning
In the audio clip, a person identifying himself as an OC is heard criticising the government, administration, army and police, while also making allegations about political affiliations among senior police officers and financial transactions in the posting of OCs.
Rakibul Hasan, the former officer-in-charge (OC) of Dhaka Cantonment Police Station who was withdrawn over remarks about the government and the police, has been taken to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch (DB) office for questioning.
A senior official confirmed to The Business Standard that Rakibul was taken to the DB office last night (17 September).
The official said the DMP has formed a three-member committee to investigate the former OC, adding that a cybercrime official from the DB is among the members.
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He was taken to the DB office to verify whether the audio recording of his remarks is genuine and to question him, the official told TBS.
The official could not say what was found during the questioning.
DB chief Additional Commissioner Shafiqul Islam said he was unaware that Rakibul had been taken to the DB office.
"There is a cybercrime official on the committee. He may question him. But I do not know whether that was done at the DB office," he told TBS.
Yesterday, DMP Commissioner Mosleh Uddin Ahmed signed an office order, attaching Rakibul to the Central Reserve Office under the DMP Headquarters and Administration Division for administrative reasons.
According to multiple police sources, the voice in the audio was initially identified as that of Rakibul. However, the DMP order did not cite the audio or any related allegation as the reason for his withdrawal, instead mentioning "administrative reasons".
Viral audio clip
The audio clip surfaced on social media the previous night. In it, a person identifying himself as an OC can be heard criticising the government, administration, army and police, while also making allegations about political affiliations among senior police officers and financial transactions in the posting of officers-in-charge.
The person in the recording also claims that senior officers are involved with the ruling BNP, while saying that he and some other officers are not involved in BNP politics.
The voice further alleges that a senior police officer's driver, identified as Monir, is involved in posting OCs in exchange for money.
"I know Sheikh Hasina is coming in December. Nothing will happen, absolutely nothing. You can imagine how weak the police on the streets are. Extremely weak. She should come. December is already too late. She should have come this month. If she comes, the current police will not be able to do anything."
The speaker also claims that officers seeking postings are paying money and alleges that an unnamed senior official could accumulate Tk100 crore by remaining in his current post for a year.
The recording also contains claims about corruption in police postings and references former inspector general of police and Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Benazir Ahmed.
The person further claims to have previously arranged an unspecified matter for a senior officer in Bhatara and alleges that the officer received Tk1 crore.
Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, Rakibul claimed that the viral audio was generated using artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
TBS could not independently verify the authenticity of the audio clip or the allegations made in it.
