CHATTOGRAM, Jan 10: Police on Thursday recovered nine sacks of missing case documents from a scrap shop in Patharghata and arrested an accused in this connection.
The case documents went missing from a Chattogram court recently.
"The suspect was identified after analysing CCTV footage from the court over the past two days," said Kotwali Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Abdul Karim. The accused used to sell tea on the court premises, he said.
The documents were stolen from the balcony of the Chattogram Court and sold at the scrap shop.
Case documents(CDs) of 1,911 cases were found missing by the Chattogram court.
The matter came to light on January 6 after the Public Prosecutor (PP) of Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court Mofizul Haque Bhuiyan filed a general diary (GD) at the Kotwali Police Station.
Lawyers said these case documents are crucial for proving guilts and their disappearance could severely impede justice.
The documents were stolen between December 13 and December 31 during the court's vacation period, court sources said.
According to court sources, the office of the Metropolitan PP is located on the third floor of the Chattogram Court Building, adjacent to the sessions judge's courtroom and other judicial chambers.
The missing case documents were stored in plastic bags in the veranda outside the PP's office due to space constraints.
These documents, belonging to 28 to 30 courts, were kept there on April 24, 2023.
The documents might have gone missing during the court's recess between December 13 and December 31, 2024.
District Bar Association President Mohammad Nazim Uddin Chowdhury said without these files, cases risk delays or even collapse.
PP Mofizul Haque Bhuiyan termed the disappearance a serious breach of security.
"This is no trivial matter. Those responsible for removing these files must be identified. It's possible that defendants might have planned disappearance of the case documents to get undue advantage in their cases," he said.
