Police Officer Arrested Over Sukhoranjan Bali Disappearance Allegations

A police officer has been arrested by the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police in connection with allegations surrounding the disappearance of Sukhoranjan Bali, who appeared as a defence witness for the late Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayeedi during his trial before the International Crimes Tribunal.

The arrest was carried out on Thursday night at the officer’s residence in Dhaka. On Friday, Additional Deputy Commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Media and Public Relations Division, Niaz Mehedi, confirmed the development. He identified the arrested officer as Assistant Superintendent of Police Fazlur Rahman. However, he said he could not immediately confirm whether the officer was still serving in an active posting at the time of his arrest.

The case relates to one of the most widely discussed disappearance allegations connected to proceedings before Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal. Sukhoranjan Bali travelled to the tribunal in 2012 to testify on behalf of Delawar Hossain Sayeedi, who was later convicted of crimes against humanity committed during Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War and sentenced to life imprisonment. Shortly after arriving to give evidence, Bali went missing.

Years later, Bali alleged that he had been taken across the border into India against his will and detained there for nearly five years. His account attracted renewed public attention after his return and became the subject of legal complaints and public debate.

On 21 August last year, Bali formally submitted a complaint to the Office of the Chief Prosecutor at the International Crimes Tribunal. In his complaint, he alleged that he had been subjected to enforced disappearance, abduction, torture and unlawful imprisonment in India for almost five years. The complaint named 32 individuals, including former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Chief Justice Surendra Kumar (S K) Sinha, among those he accused of involvement or responsibility.

According to Bali’s allegations, he refused to provide what he described as false testimony in the politically motivated case against Delawar Hossain Sayeedi. He claimed that after deciding instead to testify for the defence before the tribunal, he was abducted, forcibly disappeared and subjected to torture. These allegations form the basis of the complaint currently under investigation.

The arrest of Assistant Superintendent Fazlur Rahman marks the latest development in the ongoing investigation into Bali’s allegations. Authorities have not yet publicly disclosed the specific evidence underlying the officer’s arrest or indicated whether additional suspects may face legal action as the investigation progresses.

The investigation remains ongoing, and the allegations made by Sukhoranjan Bali are subject to legal scrutiny. No court has yet determined the criminal liability of those named in his complaint, and further proceedings are expected as investigators continue examining the evidence.