‘It was just misunderstanding’: Says police report on Sikder brothers case

Police said "a misunderstanding prompted" the attempt to murder case filed by Exim Bank officials against Sikder Group Managing Director Ron Haque Sikder and Director Dipu Haque Sikder.

"Since the defendants and accused later understood their mistakes, they reached a compromising agreement on the case. In the agreement, the two parties said they want to move forward with mutual respect by ending the misunderstanding," said the police report submitted to a Dhaka court on 27 July.

According to the statement of the case filed by Exim Bank with Gulshan Police Station against the brothers on 19 May last year, Sikder brothers allegedly abducted two Exim Bank officials last year after being turned down for Tk500 crore bank loan. Ron and Dipu allegedly tortured the bankers and threatened them to shoot dead at Sikder House in Banani.

"Who do you think you are that you dare to disobey me? I will shoot you and cripple you for life," Sikder Group managing director Ron Haque, gun in hand, threatened the bankers, as said in the case statement.

However, the police report said there was no evidence to support the accusations against the brothers.

Ron is now in bail as Dipu is still on the run. Additional Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Golam Saklain Shithil – who came to the spotlight following allegations of unprofessional conduct with actress Pori Moni – was the supervising officer of the case. 

"I talked to my superiors during the investigation for their opinions as the factual errors surfaced," Shithil said in the report, recommending the brothers to be exempted from the charges.

Meanwhile, the investigation officer of the case and a detective branch Sub-Inspector (SI) Mohammad Ripon asked the court for permission to return the car, firearm and bullets to the brothers that police seized earlier.  

The investigation officer mentioned in the report that the firearm with 70 rounds of bullet was seized from Sikder's Banani residence.  

Citing ballistic and chemical reports of the firearms, police said they were not sure whether it was used or not.    

The police report also said the accused were not seen in the closed-circuit television camera (CCTV) footage collected from the bank.

They fled to Thailand by an air ambulance

After the attempted murder case by Exim Bank, Ron and Dipu fled to Thailand by an air ambulance on 25 May last year amid the coronavirus-led regular flight suspension.

After the Sikder brothers had fled Bangladesh, police seized a vehicle belonging to Ron Sikder amid uproar over reports of the brothers' escape from the country.

Unprecedented bail plea

While staying abroad, the Sikder brothers appealed for bail with the High Court. On 20 July last year, the High Court scrapped the bail plea, saying, "Such an unprecedented appeal is the first in human history. It is certainly astonishing."

"Other courts across the globe have observed the appeal with surprise and are startled and dumbfounded by seeing the supreme excellence of our legal system," the High Court observed.

The High Court noted that the accused leaving the country without managing bail or notifying the court was illegal. The applicants had dared to ignore the country's law and the court.

Later in February this year, a Dhaka court granted bail to Ron hours after he got arrested upon his arrival at Dhaka airport from Dubai, following his father's death.