Is bounty effective in catching criminals?

The announcement of a bounty on capturing terrorists recently made headlines in the country when the United States government declared a reward of up to $5 million for information on two killers of Bangladeshi-American blogger Avijit Roy. The two are Syed Ziaul Haque alias Major Zia and Akram Hossain Niloy.

Earlier, on 2 August 2016, the Bangladesh police announced rewards of Tk20 lakh and Tk5 lakh respectively for information on the two terrorists. Another Tk20 lakh reward was announced for New JMB leader Tamim Chowdhury, who was later killed in a police raid on 27 August that year.

The issue of announcing bounty on criminals and the effectiveness of such a strategy have come to the forefront since the US decision.

People concerned say authorities sometimes announce rewards to create psychological pressure on fugitives, which disrupts their movement and leaves an effect on their chances of involvement in criminal activities.

"Bounty to arrest the fugitive Major Zia was announced in 2016. But he was not found. However, as the bounty announced by the United States is much higher this time, it may work," AKM Shahidul Haque, a former inspector general of police during whose tenure the reward was announced, told The Business Standard.

"Police spend money on sources and individuals at different times to arrest criminals. Announcing rewards is a similar strategy," he added.

But no exact figure is available at the police headquarters on the rewards that have been announced to obtain information about fugitives in Bangladesh since the emergence of the country 50 years ago.

Nearly two decades ago, the government announced rewards for information on some top terrorists of the country, including Subrata Bain and Kala Jahangir. No one came forward with such information to get the reward then either.

According to the Intelligence Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police and Rapid Action Battalion headquarters, on 26 December 2001, the government released a list of the top 23 terrorists. The authorities then declared a bounty of Tk1 lakh each for eight of them and Tk50,000 each for the other 15.

Police sources said one of the top terrorists was killed in a gunfight and another was killed in mob lynching. Eight of them are now in jail in Bangladesh and the other 13 fugitives are in India, Germany, the United States and Dubai.

In 2005, the government announced a reward of Tk1 crore for the capture of top militants Shaikh Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai in 2005. However, they were later arrested by the RAB. No one was rewarded for their arrests as the law enforcers caught them in the course of their usual investigation.

In recent years, a reward of Tk5 lakh was announced for the arrest of Musa, the main accused in the murder case of police officer Babul Akter's wife Mitu. But the police have not found any trace of Musa yet.

The National Central Bureau (NCB) at the police headquarters in Dhaka has the details of 75 criminals, including the death row convicts in the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman murder case, top terrorists and human traffickers on Interpol's red notice.

Mohiul Islam, assistant inspector general of NCB Dhaka, said, "Interpol's red notice was issued for international assistance to arrest the accused. But, many criminals could not be brought back in the country due to different complications. In 2019, Dubai police arrested Jisan, a top terrorist, but he has not been brought back yet."

Muhammad Nurul Huda, a former inspector general of Bangladesh Police, said, "Announcing a reward for the arrest of a fugitive or missing person is a good practice around the world. The United States has had good results through this practice at various times. Perhaps that is why the US authorities have announced such a large reward for the arrest of Avijit's murderers. There's a chance that it may be successful."

However, police do not arrest criminals to get prize money as it is their duty to do so, said Shafiqul Islam, commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

"If a criminal learns of the methods we use to arrest him, it becomes difficult for us. Criminals stop using mobile phones or other devices and stop maintaining communication through any conventional means. In this case, the accused cannot be caught by using conventional methods. We announce rewards in such cases," He said.

Kamrul Hasan, managing editor of Ajker Patrika, a daily newspaper, has been involved in crime journalism for almost three decades. He told The Business Standard that he has never heard of a criminal being arrested after the announcement of a reward.

"The law enforcement agencies announce rewards as part of a strategy, which creates a kind of psychological pressure on the fugitives. After the announcement, the criminals are separated from their families. They have to stop all communications and it becomes hard for them to conduct criminal activities underground," he said.

For his part, former additional inspector general of police Mokhlesur Rahman thinks that the announcement of rewards for arresting criminals is a kind of incentive for common people to provide the law enforcers with information.

"It cannot be said to be effective in all cases, but it has been effective in many cases. During my tenure, I can recall at least two incidents in which the accused were caught after the announcement of rewards. Rewards were handed over to the informers in those cases," he added.