DMP information drive

Tenants welcome HC observation

Tenants and landlords are feeling relieved after the High Court, on Tuesday, observed that the police could not force house owners or their tenants in the capital to provide any information by which his/her security and privacy could be affected.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) had distributed forms to house owners, seeking personal information. A significant number of tenants have already filled up forms and submitted them. The forms ask for details, such as the tenant or the flat/house owner's name, photo, permanent address, workplace address, religion, mobile phone number, national ID number, passport, phone and licence numbers, marital status and e-mail address, age, occupation and mobile phone numbers of family members.
The dwellers strongly felt that such an action may compromise both their security and privacy, if the information falls into wrong hands. “All this information is already available in the individual national ID card. Then, why do the police need to collect all this information once again,” Tomal Hasan, a resident of Uttara, told The Independent. “It's now an open secret that a significant number of police personnel are involved in various criminal activities, including mugging, extortion, drug business and harassing innocent people,” he added. “Such sensitive information can put our private lives in jeopardy, as we still feel that in the past few years the police have failed to earn people’s trust. We were at first reluctant to provide the info, but now we will fill up the form," said Apurba Kumar, a university student who stays in the Badda area with four friends.
The HC also observed that a citizen can seek legal action against police officers in case he/she is forced to provide private and confidential information. The police were also directed to submit to HC by September 15 a draft rule on how they will preserve the information provided by tenants. A bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das made the observation. The latest move by the DMP to collect information has evoked mixed reaction among the people. However, around 20 lakh forms have so far been submitted to the police.

DMP information drive

Tenants welcome HC observation

Tenants and landlords are feeling relieved after the High Court, on Tuesday, observed that the police could not force house owners or their tenants in the capital to provide any information by which his/her security and privacy could be affected. The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) had distributed forms to house owners, seeking personal information. A significant number of tenants have already filled up forms and submitted them. The forms ask for details, such as the tenant or the flat/house owners name, photo, permanent address, workplace address, religion, mobile phone number, national ID number, passport, phone and licence numbers, marital status and e-mail address, age, occupation and mobile phone numbers of family members. The dwellers strongly felt that such an action may compromise both their security and privacy, if the information falls into wrong hands. All this information is already available in the individual national ID card. Then, why do the police need to collect all this information once again, Tomal Hasan, a resident of Uttara, told The Independent. Its now an open secret that a significant number of police personnel are involved in various criminal activities, including mugging, extortion, drug business and harassing innocent people, he added. Such sensitive information can put our private lives in jeopardy, as we still feel that in the past few years the police have failed to earn peoples trust. We were at first reluctant to provide the info, but now we will fill up the form, said Apurba Kumar, a university student who stays in the Badda area with four friends. The HC also observed that a citizen can seek legal action against police officers in case he/she is forced to provide private and confidential information. The police were also directed to submit to HC by September 15 a draft rule on how they will preserve the information provided by tenants. A bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Ashish Ranjan Das made the observation. The latest move by the DMP to collect information has evoked mixed reaction among the people. However, around 20 lakh forms have so far been submitted to the police.