RAB may be formed afresh with new name, uniform: Home Adviser

Home Adviser Lieutenant General Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury (Retd.) Tuesday said if there is the need, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) will be formed afresh changing its name and uniform.

“If required, the RAB will be formed anew. A discussion about the force was held and we presented a proposal - an idea regarding a name and a uniform. All have to think about it. The next meeting will decide the course of action,” he said.

The home minister made the remarks while replying to a question after a meeting on law and order at the ministry’s conference room at the Secretariat.

He said they would take the decision in this regard after holding a meeting with all concerned.

The United Nations rights organ OHCHR has suggested restructuring of Bangladesh’s security and policing systems as it released its fact-finding report on violence during the July-August Uprising on 12 February.

“Disband the Rapid Action Battalion and return personnel not involved in serious violations to their home units,” said the report of the OHCHR or the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Replying to a query, the Home Adviser said they are prompt in taking action against any crimes and irregularities, referring to the arrest of two teenage gang members immediately after they hacked a couple in the capital’s Uttara on Monday and withdrawal of two police supers following two separate media reports.

“We have brought those to book involved in the incident of Uttara and we closed two superintendents of police following two separate reports in the daily Jugantar. You can’t say we are sitting idle as we are taking prompt actions after having information about anything” he said.

The activities of the juvenile gangs and snatching and mugging have decreased many fold due to taking quick actions against every incident, he said.

“It has decreased manifolds. But it has yet to reach a tolerable level,” he insisted.

The Home Adviser called upon the journalists to help form public opinion against the misdeeds.