The curious case of Arav Khan

That he was arrested several times in arms cases, that he had a large gold business in Dubai, that he had a flat on the 65th floor of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscraper, and that he fled to India soon after the murder of the police officer were all not in the knowledge of either police department or any intelligence agencies! Do we have to believe in such fairy tales? How could it happen that being a charge-sheeted accused he couldn’t have been traced?

Recently the murder of Special Branch Inspector Mamun Emran Khan came to limelight after almost five years. Mamun Khan was killed on 07 July 2018 in the office of Rabiul Islam who is now known by his self-given name Arab Khan. He also goes by many other aliases. I am not mentioning them as that is not our focal point of discussion. The story of Arav Khan - from the murder of the police official and his escape from the country to India and his subsequent flight from India to the United Arab Emirate - in a filmy style is really quite mind-boggling.

I would like to call it a fairy tale of a prince that we can only read in a children’s book. But we can’t imagine such a character and that too in a modern society where police fail to locate him. His adventure story only came to the fore after he announced that his large jeweler would be inaugurated by star cricketer Shakib Al Hasan and some other showbiz stars. It couldn’t help but raised our eyebrows. The story also brought forth some pertinent questions.

After Shakib Al Hasan went to Dubai to cut the ribbon on the opening day of the gold outlet of Arav Khan a police officer told media that Shakib and the other celebrities had been informed about the criminal record of Arav. He further said the cricketer and the others joined inauguration of Arav Jewelers knowing that its owner was an absconding accused of murder with 12 arrest warrants.

Firstly, does it make any sense? I don’t think so. What have Shakib and others have got to do with their invitations? Of course, after we come to know about a criminal identity of a person, we should refrain ourselves from socializing with him. But we can’t accuse someone if he/she joins an inauguration prorgramme of any kind or a feast if he/she goes there without any prior knowledge of his criminal implications. May be the police official wanted to warn them for their good as a kind of advice. If it is so we shouldn’t have anything to say.

Secondly, it, this warning or advice or whatsoever it is dropped a hint that it was very much in the knowledge of police that Arav Khan, the accused in the police murder case, was going to open a large outlet of gold in Dubai. If not, how come that they could have come up with warning Shakib and other showbiz celebrities? If so, why didn’t the departments or agencies concerned take any steps to bring his back to face the trial in the country? And why has the issue remained latent for a long time? And why has it only come under the spotlight after the announcement of the inauguration of the gold shop of Arav?

If there had not been the opening ceremony of the said outlet, if Shakib had not been invited and if there had not been any uproar would police or the agencies concerned have come forward to investigate the issue of the murder case? All these questions have remained unanswered. All these are now shrouded in mystery. Will ever the mysteries be unraveled? We can’t be upbeat about anything positive when we see even the order of High Court hasn’t been carried out in more than two months by the investigation agencies.

On 15 January the High Court gave the order to probe the purchase of Dubai real estate by 459 Bangladeshi nationals but the investigation agencies are yet to take any actions. Those 459 Bangladeshi nationals were said to have purchased 972 properties with their laundered money in two premium locations – Dubai Marina and Palm Jumeirah – worth $315 dollar. After the report was published the High Court on 15 January asked the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU), National Board of Revenue (NBR) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate the matter and submit reports within one month.

But all of them in a way denied receiving any written copy of the High Court order. The judiciary is one of the three pillars – legislative, judiciary and executive – on which the state runs. If any one of them fails the other two are affected so much so that it becomes impossible for a state to run its day-to-day activities. If it happens we are to understand there is something serious wrong with the state and the governance. If it is not set right the state will eventually come off its foundation leading to chaos and anarchy.

It is beyond anyone’s imagination that after the order of the HC no written copy of it has reached the agencies or organizations concerned making it a matter of grave concern. It must be dug out as early as possible, otherwise whatever we have done will be soon undone. If any individual doesn’t carry out the order of the judiciary it is taken as a contempt of court. If any government organization does the same what it should be called and how is it going to be settled?

We know the answer – it is going to lead the state to disintegration. Before that happens we must come to a solution to retain the integrity of the state. Here lies the key problem. If it is not corrected Arav Khan and people like him will go through the loopholes only to inspire others to follow his footsteps.

The writer is a journalist. He can be contacted at [email protected]