Two police constables slip away while on training in the Netherlands

An eight-member team of the Chattogram Metropolitan Police went to the Netherlands on training. Upon completion of the training, six of them returned on Tuesday. Two of the constables who were part of the team, are missing.

Commissioner of Chattogram Metropolitan Police, Mohammad Tanveer, confirmed the matter to Prothom Alo.

The two missing constables are -- Md Shah Alam and Russel Chandra Dey. Shah Alam is from Chauddagram, Cumilla and Russel is from Cox's Bazar sadar. Both of them joined the police force in 2016 and were working at the Chattogram police lines.

Speaking to Prothom Alo on Friday, CMP commissioner Mohammad Tanveer said the members of the police force had gone to the Netherlands on 9 May for training in skills to run the police dog squad. One the day before their return, two constables went out from the hotel and have been missing since. The police headquarters have been informed of the matter.

The police commissioner said, investigations have been launched into the matter. Measures will be taken after a report is received from the embassy.

Towards the middle or last year the Chattogram Metropolitan Police had submitted a proposal to the police headquarters to form a dog squad. In accordance to the proposal, the squad will comprise 20 trained dogs of two different breeds -- eight German Shepherds and 12 Labradors.

A contracting firm M/S Rifa Enterprise was given the contract to supply the dogs and also for the training. The police team went to the Netherlands under the 'Management, Handling and Training of Dog' programme.

The team, headed by assistant commissioner of CMP Mohammad Belayet Hossain, also included a sub-inspector (SI-armed), a naik (equivalent to a corporal), and five constables. Belayet Hossain was unwilling to comment on the two missing constables.

Assistant inspector general (AIG) of the police headquarters Kamruzzaman told Prothom Alo, "I am trying to find out the actual story. Investigations are being carried out to determine whether they have fallen into any danger of if they have absconded. Once that is determined, the next steps will be taken."