Law and order: People’s trust in forces yet to return

Though the interim government has completed its 100 days since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government in the face of the student-people movement, the law and order agencies could not yet regroup themselves completely.

The police have made visible progress from non-existence in the three months, but people’s trust in them is yet to return. At the same time, people’s expectations from the force have increased.

Relevant sources said a large section of the police members are still in uncertainty, which is affecting their activities. Though policing has somewhat improved, there remains a huge challenge of boosting the morale of the force.

This has affected the overall law and order situation across the country. As a result, there has been an increase in crime in different parts of the country including Dhaka.

Though the police claimed that the situation has improved from October and November, officials at different levels of the police are still in fear about filing of cases against them. At the same time, many of the newly posted field level police members are not being able to adapt with the existing situation. For example, more than half of the members of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) are newly posted. Many of the officials and constables, who are in charge of raids, do not know the lanes and by-lanes of the concerned areas of Dhaka city.

Acknowledging the situation, home adviser Jahangir Alam on 4 November told a programme, “We have changed almost all the police members in Dhaka. But it will take some time for them to know the lanes and by-lanes of Dhaka and build up their network.”

The concerned sources consider people’s lack of trust in the police as a critical obstacle to speed up the police’s activities. They said the government of Sheikh Hasina used the police force like her party’s associate body for the oppression of people in the last 15 years.

In the latest incident, the then government forced the police to face the people and kill a huge number of people. As a result, though Sheikh Hasina fled from the country over 100 days ago, the people’s negative perception of the police has not yet changed, they said.

Many have used this as a scope to spread their influence over the police while some have shown a tendency of not following the legal directions of the force. Such a temperament is most evident in cases of the directives of the traffic police. They are not being able to bring the traffic in order even by fining and filing cases.

At the same time, many of the important posts at various cities , districts and ranges have been given to the officials who were deprived during the last government. The former government kept them outside of the “operational” activities for a long time. That is why, many of them have not yet completely grasped the area-wise types of crimes and criminals and their jurisdiction and its implementation process.

Besides, the experts think there is a lack of efficient leadership within the police force to encourage the disarrayed police force due to the people’s wrath they faced following the fall of the government of Sheikh Hasina on 5 August.

Added with this is the activities of many to keep persons of their interest at important posts. There are allegations that many professional officials are being cornered by tagging them aides of the fallen government. Due to such tagging, promotion of some people, who were deprived during the past AL government, have been held up.

Several police members of different levels, from constable to DIG (Deputy Inspector General), revealed their frustrations, apprehensions and anger while talking to this correspondent.

They said that many, who have worked in important units including the capital for a long time, are separated from their families as they have been transferred far away from their previous workplaces.

They joined the work with pain or anger, leading to a decline in commitment. This type of situation has affected the police members from constable to inspector level the most.

Besides, there is the fear of being accused of indiscriminate firing, illegal use of lethal weapons and excessive use of force in student agitations. There are instances where members, who were not in the leading position of the police or in the raiding team at that time, have been accused in cases.

There have also been allegations that some are extorting money by threatening to make them accused in lawsuits. Due to these reasons many of the police are uneasy and apprehensive, said several sources.

Police sources said a total of 114 police stations were damaged (58 torched and 56 vandalized) across the country over the student-led uprising. Besides, a total of 460 establishments including police outposts, police boxes, offices and police lines were damaged. Vehicles worth over Tk 2.75 billion were either set afire or damaged.  A total of 1086 walkie-talkies were lost and uniforms worth over Tk 260 million were damaged.

Sources said that according to the information available last week, a total of 5,749 weapons of 11 types of police were lost or looted across the country centering the July-August movement. Of them, 4317 were recovered. In Dhaka, 1898 weapons were lost and 1217 were recovered. Along with this, a total of 651,609 ammunition were lost or looted all over the country and 388,182 have so far been recovered.

Due to this situation the police have to face various challenges to start normal operations. Where police stations were damaged, the force is running operations in nearby buildings of police, government buildings or rented houses. Due to shortage of equipment and vehicles, patrolling and search activities have also declined.

Police maintain that the force’s routine activities are being hampered due to lack of proper work environment. Besides, the police are to give special focus on crimes such as theft, robbery and snatching. There are pressures from the victims to arrest the accused in cases filed over July-August movement. Added with these are frequent street protests and blockade programmes to press home various demands by different sections of people. As a result, the police are grappling to adjust to multifarious challenges.

Spokesman of police headquarters and assistant inspector general Inamul Haque Sagar told Prothom Alo that new leadership has been brought to almost all important positions of the police to restore the strength, morale and work speed of the members. Efforts are underway to normalise operations by renovating and repairing the establishments of police and purchasing new vehicles.

After the fall of Sheikh Hasina government on 5 August, there was no government in the country for three days. From the IGP to constable, all members of the police went into hiding. Operations of the police stations were stopped. To deal with the situation, a decision was taken on 8 August to restart operational activities of police stations with the help of armed forces and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). From the next day, operations of police stations resumed with the help of the armed forces and the BGB. There is still a joint operation of the police with the armed forces, BGB and Ansar to maintain law and order throughout the country.

Bangladesh Army on 13 November held a press briefing to apprise of the role of the army in maintaining law and order of the country in the last three months. Speaking at the press briefing, Colonel Intekhab Haider Khan, Colonel Staff of the Military Operations Directorate at Army Headquarters, said the army seized more than 6,000 illegal weapons and recovered around 200,000 ammunition between 5 August and 13 November in ongoing operations aimed at stabilizing law enforcement across the country. The army arrested over 2500 people across the country during this period. Right now army men are deployed in 62 districts while Navy and BGB men are actively involved in maintaining law and order in coastal regions.

Besides, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) members are also working to control crimes such as mugging and robbery. The number of checkpoints and patrolling has been increased by analyzing the occurrences and timing of mugging. RAB sources said that they have already conducted several operations with joint forces to prevent mugging. Operations have also been intensified to arrest identified terrorists. So far the RAB have conducted more than 2500 'block raid' operations individually and jointly. Due to these drives, certain crimes including robbery have been brought under control in most areas including the city's Mohammadpur. Since 5 August, RAB conducted 2,656 operations and arrested 3,337 people in various incidents.

Munim Ferdous, RAB’s director of legal and media wing, told Prothom Alo, “Our main goal is to restore a sense of relief among the people. For this reason, we are giving utmost importance to control the robbery, mugging, murder and rape and detain the criminals.”

* The report, originally published in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo, has been rewritten in English by Shameem Reza and Galib Ashraf