Family Claims Police Framed Child in False Arms Case in Teknaf

Teknaf, Nov. 29 — The family of a young boy in Cox’s Bazar’s Teknaf Upazila has accused police of framing him in a false arms case after failing to arrest his father, a local political leader. The police, however, maintain that the child was arrested during an operation.

The child’s father, Rezaul Karim, is a member of the 5th ward in the 2nd Hnila Union Parishad and currently serves as the Panel Chairman (2). His son, Tawseeful Karim, is a seventh-grade student at Hnila High School.

According to the police, the boy was detained on the morning of November 26 at 4 a.m. in Teknaf, along with a foreign-made weapon and ammunition.

During a press conference on November 29, Rezaul Karim alleged that police had come to arrest him but, upon not finding him, took his school-going son and falsely implicated him in an arms case.

In response, Teknaf police released a statement on the night of November 29. Police Chief Muhammad Gias Uddin claimed that the child was detained early that morning while trying to flee. He said police recovered a foreign pistol and ammunition from the boy’s bag.

According to the police chief, the operation took place at 4 a.m. on November 26. When two individuals attempted to flee on a street near a house, one was apprehended. Police found a blue shopping bag containing a foreign-made pistol, six rounds of ammunition, and 40 blue cartridges. The weapon was seized in the presence of witnesses.

After initial questioning, the police chief said the boy confessed that his father had asked him to hide the weapon at a neighbor’s house.

Gias Uddin further claimed that Rezaul Karim is involved in terrorism and drug trafficking.

As a result, the boy was charged under the Arms Control Act and sent to a juvenile development center through the court process.

Rezaul Karim denied the allegations, asserting that his son, a bright student, had been framed as part of a political plot. “Tawseef is an excellent student. In 2021, he won the Dr. Gazi Kamrul Islam scholarship in 4th grade. In 2022, he also earned a scholarship in 5th grade,” he said. “Now, due to this conspiracy, my son couldn’t attend his 7th-grade annual exams.”

Karim further claimed that the police woke his son at 4 a.m., took him 200 yards from their home, and pressured him for information about his father. He argued that the false accusation and the weapon seizure had tarnished their family’s reputation and violated human rights, particularly during his son’s ongoing exams. “I demand justice,” he said.