Extra precaution to check fake law enforcers needed

RAPID Action Battalion have arrested seven members of an organised gang of kidnapping who impersonate them as members of RAB. ‘We arrested seven persons for kidnapping people impersonating them as members of the RAB from Kawla area on Sunday,’ said RAB-1 commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Sarwar Bin Kashem. RAB personnel also recovered one foreign made pistol, one magazine, two ammunition, two pairs of handcuff, one walkie-talkie, two sets of jacket of RAB, one microbus inscribing with RAB sticker on it, two signal lights, four pieces of black clothes and Taka 28,000 from their possession.
Arresting fake RAB, DB or policemen is nothing new. The law enforcement agencies so far have arrested dozens of criminals on charge of impersonating them as lawmen. But the trend is not yet stopped. Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) detained six fake DB policemen from Uttara Sector-10 on October 22. Police said acting on information that a group of robbers taking preparation to commit robbery in the guise of DB police, a team of detectives conducting a drive arrested them. Meanwhile, a robber tried to flee the scene and police opened fire aiming his leg, leaving him injured.
The activities of fake law enforcers have increased so much that, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police authority two years ago issued a notice in this regard giving some guidelines for the general people.
Usually, most of the frauds who pose as policemen, DB or RAB are smart and their movement, behaviour and even their hairstyle will match those of the members of law enforcing agencies. Often these are people who have been dismissed from police or other forces. Because of this background, they are aware of various laws and tactics, which allow them to successfully convince targets that they are law enforcers. Other professional criminals also join hands along with them to make a fake police gang.
We fear the activities of such fake law enforcers’ gangs would increase in the coming days particularly ahead of upcoming general election. At that time, most of the real law enforcers would remain busy in ensuring an atmosphere for holding a peaceful election. The police high-ups must take extra precautionary measures to check these gangs before they could do any harm to anyone.