If those who are responsible for using the law against crime and for justice, are the ones who carry out armed and organised criminal activities, who is to stop them? The so-called 'civil teams' in the police stations and outposts of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) have thus become the unstoppable. This is a matter of serious concern.

The matter of concern becomes all the more clear when the DMP commissioner himself has to send a letter a second time to the police stations and outposts to stop the civil teams who are operating in violation of his orders. The second letter stated, "We are perplexed now the civil teams are operating in violation of specific orders from the authorities." How can a unit of a disciplined force like the police disobey specific orders of the higher authorities? Are they not punished?

The second letter also stated that is was unexpected and unfortunate that members of the civil team were catching innocent people and threatening them into paying money. Why were they not warned that this was a punishable crime? The police's civil team has been accused to capturing members of the public or threatening to file charge against them, in order to extort money from them. Is this not a punishable crime? We feel such illegal activities by members of the law enforcement agency are to be taken into cognizance, tried and punished. It is important to ensue that the perpetrators of such crimes are brought to justice and given exemplary punishment.

Civil teams of the police cannot be a permanent system. This must be stopped right now. If the police are to carry out operations in plainclothes against criminals, they must do so with proper monitoring, responsibility and accountability.