When he was the officer-in-charge of Teknaf Police Station, Pradeep Kumar Das earned such a name that parents put small children to sleep by telling them scary stories about the OC.

Cox's Bazar Deputy Commissioner Kamal Hossain said this last year at a public event while praising Pradeep.

"The war on drugs has started and we cannot backtrack from it. I would like to thank the OC [Pradeep] of Teknaf Police Station after whose arrival I heard that locals put their children to sleep saying Pradeep would visit. We want it to continue like this," the DC told the event, marking the surrender of 102 yaba dealers and smugglers, on February 16.

During the animated speech, Kamal Hossain also said, "We want to enforce the law and wipe out the drugs menace."

This newspaper has a video clip of the speech.

Pradeep was suspended after he was accused in a case for killing Major (retd) Sinha Rashed Md Khan. The fallen officer is now behind the bars.

Contacted, Cox's Bazar DC Kamal Hossain on Wednesday said, "Yes, I said that. We want to enforce the law and wipe out the drugs menace. We want to enforce the law while staying within the law."

Sinha, who served in the Special Security Force (SSF) and took voluntary retirement from the army two years ago, was killed in police shooting at Shamlapur Police Checkpost on July 31.

The general people of Teknaf, who lived in fear when Pradeep was the OC, recently came forward with allegations that he took hefty sums from locals by threatening to kill them in so-called shootouts with police.

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Parents put kids to sleep with stories of Pradeep - The Daily Star