Monowara Begum stayed over at Dhaka Medical College Hospital with her elder daughter who was struggling with some complications after recently bringing a baby boy into the world, bdnews24.com reports.
Monowara’s son 'Bablu' was supposed to join with her in attendance at night. But he was nowhere to be found.
Bablu’s whereabouts were known in the morning when Monowara received information that his son was arrested for going out without wearing a mask. Bablu was taken to Mirpur Police Station and subsequently told that he would be sent to court.
Monowara then arrived at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrates Court with her younger daughter 'Rehana' on Saturday afternoon. The court ground was buzzing with more than a hundred relatives of people arrested over the breach of government directives amid the ongoing lockdown.
They were anxiously looking for lawyers to bail out their loved ones, who were mostly shopkeepers, masons, transport workers and other floating traders from low-income families.
Appearing restless amidst the crowd, Monowara went forward to speak to several others waiting like her and was advised to approach a lawyer for Bablu.
“I’ve never dealt with court matters before. I can’t figure anything out. The lawyer said Tk 1,000 will be needed to release my son and I accepted the offer. I told him that I’ll pay up once he brings my son out,” said Monowara.
She said Bablu, who is a bus driver, ‘forgot’ his mask back at home when he headed out for the hospital and was detained by the police who prosecuted him under Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance and sent him to court.
With Bablu currently jobless, she is already partially bearing her daughter’s treatment expenses. Monowara’s financial woes are compounded by the payment of Bablu's fine, lawyer fee and conveyance expenses - which have totalled around Tk 1,500 to 2,000 in additional expenditure.
The sum was enough to feed the whole family for several days.
With the cases of Covid-19 infection soaring in the country, a nationwide weeklong lockdown was imposed from Thursday. All offices have remained shut and motor vehicles suspended amid the lockdown.
The government had been adamant on keeping the restrictions tight this lockdown, sending warnings of arrests and fines if anyone goes outside without emergency need.
According to the police, as many as 870 people were arrested on Thursday and Friday on charges of breaching lockdown rules while another 621 people were detained on Saturday.
They were all produced in court as arrestees in cases under several sections of the DMP Ordinance.
The court ground was bustling with relatives of arrestees and lawyers crowding police vans carrying the detained. About 50 lawyers could be seen in consultation with them outside the court, paying fines and moving to get their loved ones released.
Md Ismail Hossain, an advocate, said the most arrestees were sued under DMP Ordinance’s section 69, 77, 78 and 100. The court was handing down fines ranging from TK 200 to Tk 700 depending on the offence.
Section 100 empowers the police to carry out arrests without warrants. Section 78 stipulates penalties for breach of discipline and section 77 provides for punishment for obstructing movement.
DMP Ordinance’s section 69 is for setting up shop by violating rules.
The police arrested Kamrangirchar’s Ilyas Hossain, a floating fruit seller, on Friday night for going out ‘without emergency’. Ilyas’ brother Ibrahim Hossain was working on his release.
“The lawyer said he was charged under three sections and can be fined Tk 1,000. So he wants Tk 1,500. I said all I have is Tk 1,200. The lawyer then accepted the offer,” Ibrahim said.
Lamenting how difficult it will be to spend the sum with no earnings amid the lockdown, Ibrahim said, “We sell raw materials. If we cannot sell them once we bring the supplies, the whole batch is lost. How am I supposed to salvage my trade or feed my family?
“If the police don’t let us tend to our business, all our supplies will be lost. When that happens, I’ll have to go for a loan again. It’s so tough on the poor.”
Al Amin, who works at a bakery and fast food shop in Bangshal, was detained right after he had opened up the shop on Saturday morning. The shop owner’s brother Tajul Islam arrived at the court for Al Amin’s release.
“Police told us to sell food online. But we have a small shop and the locals are our customers. How can we do business online? But they will have none of it and won’t let us open shop. Then they apprehended one of our employees… I talked to a lawyer and reached an agreement for Tk 800.”
Kabir Hossain, a tea shop owner in Mirpur, walks with crutches. Ignoring his disability, he arrived at the court breaking up his journey into short rickshaw and rickshaw-van trips after his elder brother Shahidul Islam was arrested on Friday.
Shahidul was working inside his furniture shop with the shutter pulled down when the police arrived and apprehended him.
“My brother had no idea that the lockdown would be so strict. He was working alone, yet he was detained,” Kabir said.
Anyone leaving home without sufficient cause during the weeklong lockdown will be sued and may face arrest, Md Shafiqul Islam, the chief of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, had said on Jun 30.
“If we need to file 5,000 cases and make this many arrests a day, we will,” he said.
But Ain O Salish Kendra Secretary General Nur Khan thinks it is ‘crucial’ to be humane to run the state.
“I’ve noticed people who earn through hard work are mostly being detained and fined. Each of them is spending Tk 1,500 - 2,500 for release. But such people go outside to earn money for food,” Nur said.
“On my visit to Mohammadpur Police Station the day before yesterday, I saw that most of the arrestees were low-income people. Some of them own small businesses, some were construction workers," he added. "Rather than resorting to intimidation or force, it was more important to make people aware and supply them with daily necessities in these times of distress.”
Additional Deputy Commissioner of DMP’s Media and Public Relations wing Iftekhairul Islam, however, said it was not true that all of the arrestees were from low-income families.
“Cases were filed against 800 cars too. Their owners are from the upper income group,” he said.
He claimed that the police were cracking down only on those violating the rules by ‘unnecessarily’ roaming around outside. “These verifications are being done very carefully under the supervision of senior officials.”