1,911 case files go missing from Ctg court
Published: 6 January 2025, 11:30 AM
A total of 1,911 important case files have gone missing from the Chattogram court. These files include case dockets related to serious crimes such as murder, drug trafficking, smuggling, and explosions.
Md Mafizul Haque Bhuiyan, the Public Prosecutor of the Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court, filed a General Diary (GD) at the Kotwali Police Station regarding the matter on Sunday (January 5).
Lawyers said that these case files are crucial for judicial proceedings. Without them, proving the crimes will be extremely difficult.
According to court sources, the Chattogram Metropolitan Public Prosecutor’s Office is located on the third floor of the Chattogram Metropolitan Court building, near the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's courtroom and the judge's private chamber. While the court building is busy with lawyers and litigants during the day, security is supposed to be stricter after hours. CCTV cameras are installed on every floor. The disappearance of the case files has left lawyers stunned, and they are demanding a thorough investigation.
The GD stated that 28 to 30 case dockets were originally stored at the Chattogram Metropolitan Public Prosecutor’s Office. Due to space constraints, from April 24 to December 2023, the case files of 1,911 cases were kept in plastic bags on the office veranda, wrapped in polythene. The files went missing between December 13 and December 31, during the court's vacation period when the office was closed. Despite extensive searches, the files could not be found. A GD was filed to document the incident.
Public Prosecutor Mafizul Haque confirmed that the case dockets of the 1,911 cases were taken by someone, though it is unclear who took them. Due to a lack of available space, the files were stored on the veranda.
Kotwali Police Station Officer-in-Charge Abdul Karim confirmed that a General Diary has been filed regarding the loss of the 1,911 case files from the front of the Chittagong Metropolitan Public Prosecutor's Office. An investigation is currently underway.
