How a rickshaw puller became a master forger

The criminal investigation department (CID) of police has arrested three people of a gang who are allegedly responsible for forging 50 bail petitions. The CID said the kingpin of the gang, Delwar Hossain, used to be a rickshaw puller, and made his way up to become a master forger.       

Delwar Hossain studied up to class eight, and then became a rickshaw puller. He then got a job at a hotel, and managed to become the president of the Hotel Labourers Association, Rangpur.

The CID arrested him with two associates, ABM Raihan and Shamim, in the district on Monday. At a press briefing on Wednesday in the capital, Special Superintendent of the CID, Mohammed Kamruzzaman, said they identified a number of bail-forgery gangs during the investigation.

Kamruzzaman said that Delwar posed as a lawyer for a brief period after he learnt the details of bail processing and case documentation.  

"He could forge the required documents including first information reports and police reports for the bail plea. Raihan used to help him as he is a court staff member, while computer operator Shamim supplied the required printed papers," said the CID official.

He said, "The gang used to charge Tk3 to Tk5 lakh for each case, and they helped 50 people to get bail with forged documents in the last seven years."           

How the gang was busted

Police arrested the regional commander named Eaar Ali of a radical group for illegal possession of arms from Rajbari district in 2014, and a case was filed against him.  

Eaar Ali's relatives contacted the gang for bail. The gang forged all the case documents, and Eaar secured interim bail from the High Court.  

The forged papers submitted at court stated that no arms were found in Eaar Ali's possession. There were just some bullet casings from the time when police held Eaar.  

The documents submitted at court for the bail plea stated that there were two people at the crime scene, one of whom was Eaar. The papers portrays Eaar as being innocent and not the main suspect.

Deputy Attorney General Forhad Ahmed became suspicious and called Rajbari Police Station, asking for the case documents. He notified the court about the forgery and subsequently a case was filed at Shahbagh police station in 2016.

First a police and later a CID investigation revealed the forgery.

Shahbagh police pressed forgery charges against Eaar Ali's lawyer Musrose Jorna Shathi. She is now on bail.

Meanwhile, Eaar's bail was suspended after the police investigation discovered the bail forgery. The CID began an investigation after getting the case in 2017, and made the arrest on Monday.

CID officials said two other people who might be involved in bail forgery are under their radar.