Erfan Salim sued based on what we recovered during drives: Rab

A day after police cleared Erfan Salim, son of Dhaka-7 lawmaker Haji Salim, of the charges of possessing illegal arms and drugs, the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) said they filed the cases against him based on what they found during a drive at his residence.

Meanwhile, Erfan has been granted bail in the drug case on Tuesday.

The elite force's Director (media wing) Lieutenant Colonel Ashik Billah claimed that the allegations brought by the Rab against Erfan were based on the things they recovered from his residents during the nine-hour-long raid.

The Rab will proceed further after receiving the final report, he added.

Asked if the Rab's operation would be deemed questionable after police dropped charges against Erfan, Lieutenant Colonel Ashik Billah said, "The Rab conducted the drive while an executive magistrate was present there. We filed the cases based on the things we recovered. But, we are not aware of the reports submitted by the investigators."

Meanwhile, Rab Director General Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun denied to make any comment saying that the case against Erfan Salim is under trial in court.

"The Rab conducted the drive based on specific information. Police submitted final reports according to their findings," said the Rab director general while talking to the reporters at a programme held at its headquarters on Tuesday.

A Dhaka court granted bail to Erfan on Tuesday against a bond worth Tk50,000 in the drug case on the condition that he would appear before the court every Tuesday. Earlier, Erfan was granted bail in a case filed over possessing unregistered walkie-talkies.

Earlier, on 4 January, police dropped charges of possessing illegal arms and drug possession against Erfan on the grounds of "insufficient information" in the First Information Reports (FIR).

The final reports were submitted to a Dhaka court on the same day in two cases filed by the Rab with Chawkbazar Police Station.

On 26 October, Navy Lieutenant Wasif Ahmed Khan filed a case against Erfan and his associates for assaulting him at the Kalabagan crossing the night after Salim's vehicle hit his motorbike.

After the assault, the Rab carried out a nine-hour-long raid and recovered firearms and drugs, eventually filing two cases against Erfan and Zahidul.

During the raid, the Rab seized at least 38 walkie-talkie sets, three very high frequency sets, two pistols, two handcuffs, a router, six bottles of alcohol, a gun, and 400 yaba pills.

More than two months later, Chawkbazar police submitted final reports in which charges against Erfan were dropped, but Zahidul was charge-sheeted in connection with the same raid.

Walid Hossain, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, explained to the media that the cases against Erfan had not made any references to "absolute possession."

The statements only mention that the arms and drugs were recovered in the presence of an executive magistrate, but he refused to provide any statement to the investigators, the police officer said.

However, Walid Hossain said that charges were pressed against Zahidul because arms and yaba had been recovered from his pocket and waist.

Chawkbazar police Officer-in-Charge Moudud Hawladar said information contained in the case statements was not an accurate reflection of reality, forcing the police to provide final reports.