Police station, outpost set on fire in Chattogram: 500 firearms looted

Four burnt white pickup trucks were standing next to a charred armoured vehicle in front of Kotwali police station in Chattogram city. A little further away, six cars, microbuses and four motorcycles were in the same condition.

On the way inside the police station, there was the duty officer’s room to the left. That has been burned to the ground. On the other side, the glass around the officer-in-charge (OC)’s cabin has been shattered to bits.

The rooms of the sub-inspectors (SI) and assistant sub-inspector (ASI) on the first floor have turned into piles of rubble. And the living quarters for the sub-inspectors and other police personnel are on the second floor where their belongings and furniture have been vandalised.

Primarily the infrastructural damage of Kotwali police station has been calculated at Tk 15 million (1.5 crore). Damage caused to the furniture inside and other items including laptops has not been assesed yet.

Infrastructural damage to eight police station buildings and eight police outposts in the city, including the Kotwali police station amounts to Tk 210 million (21 crore).

Meanwhile, the police initially estimate that around 500 guns and more than 12,000 rounds of ammunition have been looted from various police stations in the city. The looted arms include shotguns, pistols and rifles. The police could not confirm the exact numbers as the documents stored in the police station were burnt down in the arson.

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) recovered 35 guns and 275 bullets out of those looted arms on Wednesday. As the rest of the weapons have not been recovered yet, there is a chance of those being used by miscreants for robbery, murder and other criminal activities.

People brought out small processions in different areas of Chattogram city after former prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country on 5 August in the face of students-led mass uprising.

Meanwhile, miscreants committed arson, vandalism and looting between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm in the evening. And that turned eight police stations of the city into wreckage. The Patenga and EPZ police stations were affected the most. Currently, these police stations are operating out of nearby police outposts.

Deputy commissioner (Sadar) of city police SM Mostain Hossain told Prothom Alo that only the infrastructural damage of the police station and outposts has been initially estimated at Tk 210 million (21 crore). And, the work of estimating damages of other items including furniture in those police stations and outposts is underway.

Besides, initiatives are being taken to restore the affected police stations. However, the activities in all the police stations are running under alternative arrangements. Plus, the police operation to recover the looted arms is continuing. The police force is on alert and there’s nothing to be panicked about, stated police officer SM Mostain Hossain.  

According to police sources, the infrastructural damages caused to Pahartali police station in the city has been fixed at Tk 16 million (1.6 crore). Nothing except the walls are left at the entire police station.

There has been damages worth Tk 7 million (70 lakh) at the EPZ police station, Tk 8 million (80 lakh) at Patenga police station, Tk 15 million (1.5 crore) at Halishahar police station, Tk 12 million (1.2 crore) at Double Mooring police station, Tk 12 million (1.2 crore) at Chandgaon police station, Tk 15 million (1.5 crore) at Bandar police station, Tk 8 million (80 lakh) at Sadarghat police station and Tk 7 million (70 lakh) at Akbar Shah police station.  

Apart from that, among the police outposts the damages at Patharghata has been worth Tk 8 million (80 lakh), at Sadarghar it is Tk 10 million (1 crore), at EPZ it is Tk 7 million (70 lakh), at North Halishahar it is Tk 6 million (60 lakh) and at Mohra the damages are worth Tk 6 million (60 lakh). In addition to that the damages caused at Dampara police lines has been calculated at Tk 6 million (60 lakh).

Some of the police officers who have joined their posts at the police stations told Prothom Alo that they want their 11-point demand including the formation of an independent police commission to be realised. They want the police force not to be used by any political party again so they can work independently.