In an attempt to stop criminals and militants from setting up hideouts in Dhaka city, all landlords of the capital have been directed to submit information about their tenants and themselves to the DMP within March 15.
Failure to comply would result in legal action against the landlords.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police have been visiting houses and handing out tenant information forms to both landlords and their lodgers and would continue to do so until midnight tonight.
Anyone yet to get the form would be able to collect it from the police station in their respective area.
The DMP Headquarters took the initiative after members of Counter-terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit raided two houses in Badda and Mohammadpur to recover explosives and arrested Ansarullah Bangla Team members.
DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah said many landlords unknowingly rent their house to militants or criminals who use the house as a base of operation before committing the crime and fleeing the city.
“For this reason, we have decided to collect updated information of all tenants through the filling up of a complete form with a copy of national identity card,” the DMP boss said.
He added the issue was not new, but the police were now making it one of their top priorities.
Sources said both police officials and landlords would be held accountable if the tenant database is not updated. Local police officials would have to provide statement on why they failed to update information, while landlords would face action under criminal procedure.
Section 42 of the code of criminal procedure states that every citizen must help the police for government or investigation work. Under this section, police can seek information from anyone and citizens must cooperate. If necessary, the police can also take action under this section.
What is in the form?
The tenant information form, which was collected by the Dhaka Tribune, shows that all tenants and landlords must provide current and permanent address, profession, national ID number, passport number, mobile phone number, a passport-size photograph, family member details, emergency contact person, and details about any domestic help and driver.
Along with details about their current landlords, tenants would also need to give the names of their previous landlords, phone numbers and reasons for leaving the earlier lodgings.
However, some police officials said they have been getting poor response from tenants and landlords.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Nure Alam Miah, officer-in-charge of Dhanmondi police station, said many of the tenants refuse to provide information and fail to understand that the information was being collected for their own safety.
On the other hand, Shahbagh OC Abu Bakkar Siddique said they have already collected 12,000 of the 20,000 distributed forms so far in the area.
Concerns about sharing info
Abdul Aziz, a tenant of Lakshmibazar area, said he received a form from the police on Friday but was not told any detail on why the information was being collected. He expressed his concerns that submitting the form might create troubles for him in the future.
Seeking anonymity, a landlord of Sutrapur area, told the Dhaka Tribune he also feared future harassment if all information had to be given to the police.
Another tenant in Wari, also preferring to stay anonymous, said: “I am fearing it would create trouble for me instead of offering security, as the police would interrogate me without any reason if something happened in my area.”
