A Dhaka court has imposed a travel ban on former Additional Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) and former Chief of the Detective Branch (DB), Mohammad Harun-or-Rashid.
On Tuesday, August 27, the court of Dhaka Senior Special Judge As-Shams Jaglul Hossain issued the order following a petition by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Earlier, on August 18, the bank transactions of Harun-or-Rashid, his wife, his children, and their owned businesses were suspended.
Notably, the Anti Discrimination Student Movement, formed by students advocating for reform in the job quota system, took to the streets. The student movement escalated into a mass protest and turning into a movement demanding the fall of the government.
Amidst this movement, on August 5, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned from her position and left the country, leading to the collapse of the police chain of command.
After Sheikh Hasina's departure, news spread that Harun-or-Rashid, who was known for his influential role during her tenure, had been arrested. However, the next day, he denied the arrest news himself. Since then, this officer has been somewhat "disappeared." In the changing political context, Harun has also been named as accused in several cases along with other influential police officers. However, there is now uncertainty about his whereabouts.
During his tenure as the head of the DMP's DB since July 2022, Harun was widely discussed for serving food to various individuals who came to his office with complaints and sharing those photos on Facebook.
Most recently, he held six coordinators of the quota reform movement in his office for several days, allegedly to ensure their safety. Sharing some photos of them being served food on social media sparked further discussion.
The matter drew widespread attention, prompting a High Court bench to express discontent, stating, "You cannot just drag anyone to the DB office and then serve them at the dining table. Don’t mock the nation in this way."
Following this incident, on July 31, he was transferred from the DB to the Crime and Operations Division of the DMP.
