84 held in raid at add’l DIG’s Purbachal house

Alcohol, yaba, cannabis seized

The Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested 84 people, including 26 women, during a raid on a house in Police Housing in Dhaka’s Purbachal on Monday night.

Alcohol, yaba and cannabis were seized from the house that belonged to Abdullah Al Jahir, an additional deputy inspector general of police.

Jahir had rented out the house, where drug use and illegal “DJ parties” had allegedly been going on for a long time, prompting police to conduct the raid, Shafiqul Islam, additional commissioner (detective) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told The Daily Star.

Parties and drug consumption were regularly reported at the property in Police Housing-1, said Elias Kabir, deputy commissioner of DB’s Uttara division that conducted the raid.

Jahir was the primary organiser of the parties and a man named Mahbub Alam acted as the co-organiser, according to Elias.

Mahbub told investigators that Jahir received 70 percent of the earnings from the parties, while he took the rest, according to DB. The property was available for bookings through Airbnb, and “DJ parties” were regularly organised for those who booked it.

The arrestees have been sent for summary trial, Elias said.

Meanwhile, following the incident, Jahir, an officer from the 24th police batch, has been attached to the Police Headquarters.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Jahir said that his house had facilities for hosting birthday parties and family gatherings.

They take bookings through Airbnb, but drugs and “DJ parties” are prohibited under their rules. Those who violated the restrictions were blacklisted and fined, he said.

Regarding Monday night’s incident, Jahir said the property had been rented out for a birthday party, but the guests brought drugs, which were recovered during the DB raid.

“What is our crime here? We rented out the property. Our guidelines explicitly prohibit drugs and DJ parties. Those found with drugs committed criminal offences,” he said, while dismissing allegations that such parties were organised every day.

Every month, two to three parties were held at the venue, Jahir added.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader and Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman has expressed concern over the country’s deteriorating law and order situation following the recovery of drugs and arrests.

The involvement of a property belonging to a senior police official in such an incident has created concern and fear among the public, he said in a Facebook post.

The incident itself reflected the extent of the deterioration in law and order across the country.

Extortion, snatching, looting, robbery and other criminal and anti-social activities had reached alarming levels, he said.