Police officer Harun Or Rashid. Photo: Collected
Police officer Harun Or Rashid held key positions for a decade in the industrial areas of Gazipur, Narayanganj, and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). During this time, he allegedly engaged in questionable practices involving numerous factories. He was a veritable embodiment of terror for big businessmen. Established businessmen say that this Harun became a major obstacle in expanding their businesses.
Following the recent government transition, police officer Harun Or Rashid's whereabouts are currently unknown. His activities have become a topic of public discussion and scrutiny.
Investigation reveals that on September 10, 2016, a terrible fire accident occurred at the factory of Tampaco Foils Limited in Tongi, Gazipur. Taking advantage of this situation, the then Superintendent of Police (SP) of the district, Harun Or Rashid, obtained financial benefits from this devastated company by showing various threats. Not just from this company, he would forcibly take unethical advantages from large industrial groups like Partex, Amber Denims, Dulal Brothers, Apex & Sinha under various pretexts. There are also allegations against this fugitive police officer of kidnapping businessmen, and even their wives and children, if they failed to provide the demanded money within a specified time.
Several businessmen revealed that every August, Harun would set extortion rates: Tk 5 lakh from small factories, 8 lakh from medium ones, and 15-20 lakh, sometimes up to a crore taka from large industrial groups. Besides this, regular monthly payments and hefty sums around various occasions had to be given. Moreover, if any institution expanded their business or went into new product manufacturing, Harun had to be given a large amount as a ‘salami’ (cash money). Otherwise, there would be persecution, attacks, lawsuits, and social defamation. If negotiations failed, Harun would sometimes raid the factories while businessmen were in meetings with foreign buyers.
Officials from Tampaco Foils Limited said that amidst the horror of the factory fire, the then SP Harun Or Rashid demanded Tk 3 crore in extortion from the owner of the institution. When this was refused, the terror began. First, a murder case was filed using a pedestrian. Later, the police themselves filed another murder case. The accused included the institution's owner, former MP of Sylhet-6 (Golapganj) constituency Syed Mokbul Hossain, and several other officials. When this didn't work, they tried to force factory workers to make complaints against the owner by showing various threats. In the end, he forcibly took a large financial advantage.
Safius Sami Alamgir, President of Bangladesh Flexible Packaging Industries Association and Managing Director of Tampaco Foils Limited, told journalists, “We suffered the fire accident due to increased gas pressure in the transmission line. This came up in the Ministry of Commerce's investigation. But before that, the then SP Harun Or Rashid demanded unethical advantages from us. When we expressed inability, various forms of persecution began. Along with harassment through false cases, attempts were made to take false statements from the institution's workers. Such behaviour from a responsible police officer is a major obstacle to the normal operations of industrial establishments in the country and the expansion of business scope.”
Partex Denim and Amber Group also fell victim to police officer Harun's greed. There are allegations that in 2014, Harun demanded Tk 5 crore in extortion from the Partex Denim factory located in the Banglabazar area of Gazipur. When they refused to pay, an attack was carried out on the workers in the factory, infiltrating illegally through the jungle in the dead of night. SP Harun Or Rashid himself led this attack. At least 45 workers of the company were injured in this incident.
About two years later, on May 3, 2016, in the evening, Sub-Inspector (SI) Azharul Islam, on behalf of SP Harun, demanded Tk 5 crore in extortion from Amber Denim. He called and threatened the institution's store manager Yahiya Babu, ordering him to bring the money quickly. Otherwise, he instructed to summon the institution's chairman. From then on, Harun continuously pressured the workers not to join work and carried out attacks on the factory, according to allegations.
Harun Or Rashid was appointed as Additional Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) in charge of the Detective Branch on July 13, 2022. After this, he became even more reckless. He started raiding corporate offices along with factories under various pretexts. He had about a dozen beautiful women under his control, who mainly provided information about various businessmen. Later, Harun would use this information to blackmail the businessmen.
When he didn't receive the demanded extortion from a top official of a finance institution, he became enraged and had the official's wife arrested. She was charged with a yaba case. Fearing Harun, the couple later moved to the United States. There are also allegations against Harun of taking Tk 3 crore in extortion from Dulal Brothers Limited or DBL Group.
Messenger/Disha
