Liquor puzzles in Pori Moni drug case

There have been mismatches in police's accounts over what they found and what they reported to the court in the narcotics case against Dhallywood actress Shamsunnahar Smrity, popularly known by her screen name Pori Moni.

The first one is the seized liquor from her residence having 13%-43% alcohol by volume, according to the police's case statement. But the alcohol volume was found at 11%-14% in police's forensic tests and mentioned accordingly in the charge-sheet submitted to court last year.

The second mismatch is about a RAB sepoy Momtaz Begum, who, according to the case statement, witnessed the liquor recovery and was present while the seizure list was prepared subsequently. But the cop told the court that she was downstairs during the entire three-hour raid.

"Yes, we are aware of the puzzles in the case and inform the court on the next hearing on 1 February," Pori Moni's lawyer Nilanjana Rifat Surovi told The Business Standard. However, the defence lawyer said they do not want to share those with the media in detail since the trial is going on.

Police's elite force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on 4 August last year raided Pori Moni's residence in Dhaka's Banani and arrested her with around 19 litres of liquor. In the case filed subsequently with Banani police, RAB said they seized 19 bottles of liquor of seven brands including Johnnie Walker, Chivas Regal and Glenlivet.

The liquors contain volume of alcohol from 13.5% to a highest 43%, RAB mentioned in the case statement and seizure list.

In the turn of events, investigation of the case was transferred from RAB to the police's Detective Branch to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police. After the chemical tests, the CID report, however, says the liquors had 11.2% to the highest 14.2% alcohol volume.     

"Department of Narcotics Control experts can explain how the alcohol volume dropped. We just mentioned in the chargesheet whatever we had found in our forensic tests," Kazi Golam Mostafa, CID's investigation officer of the Pori Moni case, told TBS.

Dulal Krishna Saha, chief chemical examiner at the narcotics control department, said alcohol volume dilutes if water or soft drinks is added to liquor.  

"Four litres of water are required to dilute one litre of liquor with 43% alcohol volume to 11%-14%," he added.   

In the case statement, RAB said they prepared the seizure list at the crime scene in presence of a number of sepoys who took part in the raid.   

But Momtaz Begum, one of the sepoys and the lone female law enforcer during the raid, told the court in witness examination that she was downstairs during the entire time of the raid and did not go to Pori Moni's apartment on the fourth floor of the building.       

However, according to the Code of Criminal Procedure, searching a woman must be carried out by a female law enforcer with strict regard to decency.

Contacted, Mozibor Rahman, a RAB official and plaintiff of the case, refused to comment on the case mismatches saying he "was busy in office work".   

Commander Khandaker Al Moin, legal and media wing director of RAB, told TBS that he would not comment about a case that was now under trial.     

In the first week of January, a Dhaka court framed charges against Pori Moni in the drug case and set 1 February for the hearing. The actress is now on bail.