It is a shame that allegations of extortion have been raised against a section of law enforcers ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr. Those who are enforcers of law have now become headlines for their alleged extortion mania. Allegations are galore in the media that a section of police personnel, including traffic police, are extorting money from individuals and transport owners. It has been reported that the victims also include the ill people heading towards hospitals. A news report said the corrupt policemen’s daily income through extortion is as high as 10 million taka in Dhaka city only.

Another reports said that ahead of the Eid, extortion by local-level political leaders and police from CNG-run auto-rickshaws on and around the first Buriganga bridge has reached an unbearable state. The auto-rickshaws registered in districts around Dhaka city are being charged extra on trips to the capital by extortionists to use the bridge. As these vehicles cannot legally operate inside Dhaka, they have to count extra money to satisfy the traffic police as well.

The leading dailies and news portals have reported that extortion by the corrupt policemen is leading to price hikes of essential goods and commodities across the country. The retailers and transporters have to pay the police just to carry their goods. That’s how the prices become high and the common consumers have to bear the brunt of it.

Another form of extortion by a section of policemen is through so-called “vehicle requisition”. Due to insufficient vehicles of the police department, it usually borrows vehicles from private owners for their official purpose. Some sergeant and SI level police officials are reportedly involved in extortion in the name of vehicle requisition. The private owners pay them about 500 to 1,000 taka in order to evade this requisition.

So, these law enforcers are extorting money on the highways, on the streets, and on the pavements. It has been reported that the higher authority has been informed about this issue

In some cases, the presence of police has become a name of “panic”. Harassments have become commonplace when the citizens are faced with corrupt policemen. If you have a flat tyre on the road, you would panic; if you are returning home, you would panic that a policeman would show up and harass you. A section of law enforcers have lost their benevolent face, which they are meant for. You can no longer call them “helpers” of the people. They should be dreadful to the criminals, not to law-abiding common citizens. Then why would they extort money from the innocent people and no-one can do anything about it?

The police have been empowered by the tax-payers’ money for crime prevention, for keeping the people’s live safe from the hands of the criminals, for making the society secure, for making sure that transportations become obstacle-free, for making the state of the affairs smoother. But that is not what they are doing; they are even extorting money from the poor rickshaw-pullers. Recently, five police officials have been sent to jail by the chief metropolitan magistrate for extorting 23,000 taka from the rickshaw-pullers.

One interesting aspect in the characteristic of our corrupt police personnel is that they do not extort influential people who have connections. Almost all the victims of police extortion are the common and middle-class people. If the police officials, sometimes, forget their motto to serve the people, it is the responsibility of the Police Department to remind them about their true work.

In the recent Transparency International survey, 60 percent of Bangladeshi respondents believed that the police are among the most corrupt in the country. However, one recent incident shows us a bit of hope. Five police personnel have been taken into custody. We hope the police department of the country would apply the law also on the law enforcers if they are found extorting money from the citizens.

It is time that they become friends of the people. They need to earn the respect of the people; they need to remove this panic from the minds of the citizens about them. It is not too late to do that.