Why govt withdraws police escorts for 18 ministers

Eighteen cabinet members who have travelled under police escort in the capital since taking office will now have to travel without such protection.

The government has decided to withdraw the police escort vehicles that previously accompanied them while moving in Dhaka. From now on, only six ministers and one adviser with the rank of minister will continue to receive the facility.

The information was confirmed by multiple sources within the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).

According to those sources, the decision was implemented by the DMP on the instruction of the home minister, following the prime minister’s directive.

However, all ministers will continue to receive police protection and security arrangements, where necessary, during official visits outside the capital.

The ministers who will continue to receive police escorts in Dhaka are Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives; Salahuddin Ahmed, Minister of Home Affairs; Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Minister of Finance and Planning; Professor AZM Zahid Hossain, Minister for Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs; Khalilur Rahman, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Iqbal Hasan Mahmud, Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources; and Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, Adviser for Planning with the rank of minister.

Officials, however, have not provided a clear explanation of the security assessment or criteria under which these seven office-holders continue to receive the escort facility.

Several senior police officers told Prothom Alo that the arrangements had been retained on the basis of operational necessity.

The police vehicle travelling ahead of a minister's official vehicle is known as an escort or protection vehicle.

According to sources in the DMP's Protection Division, each vehicle is staffed by a five-member police team, which accompanies the minister according to his or her official schedule within the capital.

Police sources said that the withdrawal of escort facilities for 18 ministers has resulted in the redeployment of around 90 police officers.

Previously, approximately 120 officers had been assigned to ministerial escort duties; that number has now fallen to 30–35 officers. The number of escort vehicles has also been reduced from 25 to seven, with the freed personnel and vehicles reassigned to other policing responsibilities.

Officials familiar with the matter said the decision was not driven by a single factor. Rather, according to sources in both the home ministry and the police, it reflects a combination of considerations.

These include fuel conservation, a shortage of police vehicles, and the government's policy of reducing the size of official motorcades. The prime minister’s own decision to scale back his security convoy is also said to have influenced the move.

Officials believe the measure will additionally help ease traffic congestion in the capital.

According to several government officials, the prime minister’s convoy previously included two police protocol vehicles, but he has now dispensed with them. His principal security continues to be provided by the Special Security Force (SSF).

The police now provide only a motorcycle pilot escort, consisting of four officers travelling on motorcycles—two in front and two behind the motorcade.

Mohammad Shahriar Alam, Deputy Commissioner of the DMP's Protection Division, told Prothom Alo that reducing the number of ministerial escorts would lower fuel consumption while easing pressure on police vehicles and personnel.

He added that the vehicles and officers released from escort duties could now be deployed for routine policing across the capital.