200 vehicles to be purchased for police, spending Tk 1.72b

The government has decided to purchase new vehicles to replace those used by the Bangladesh Police which were either burned during the July mass uprising or rendered unusable.

In this phase, 200 double-cabin pickup trucks will be procured from the state-owned company Pragoti Industries through an open tender process, meaning direct purchase. Each vehicle will cost Tk 8.6 million, totalling Tk 1.72 billion.

The proposal was approved at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase at the secretariat in Dhaka on Wednesday with Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed in the chair.

Public Security Division under the home ministry submitted the proposal to purchase the vehicles for police operational use.

Finance adviser confirmed the approval of the proposal to journalists after the meeting.

“Many police vehicles were damaged. We have allocated funds to purchase the vehicles,” Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed argued adding that they mulled constructing a housing complex for the police somewhere near Dhaka.

Earlier, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved in principle the proposal to purchase the vehicles through direct procurement at a meeting on 29 April. At that time, Public Security Division informed the committee that 460 police stations and various other police establishments were set on fire during the mass uprising between 1 July and 6 August 2024. As a result, a large number of police vehicles were torched. For this reason, it is necessary to urgently purchase vehicles to maintain law and order and ensure public security.

Currently, there are 664 police stations, 215 investigation centres, 459 police outposts, and 167 camps in the country. According to a recent presentation by the police headquarters to the top-level government level, public anger toward police force arose during the July movement because of unprofessional, dishonest, power-hungry, and unruly officials. As a result of this long-standing resentment, some miscreants set fire to police establishments and vehicles. At total of 526 vehicles were burned to ashes, and 533 more were vandalised. Altogether, 1,059 vehicles were rendered unusable, causing a financial loss of Tk 3.6 billion.

Sources said the police headquarters submitted a proposal to the Public Security Division to purchase vehicles at the end of last year. The proposal stated that police vehicles were set ablaze in 105 police stations and outposts across the country between July 1 and August 6 of last year.

At first, the police headquarters sent proposal to the Public Security Division, seeking an allocation of Tk 3.6 billion to fully resume police operations and bring law and order under control. Then Public Security Division sent a letter to the Finance Division on January 8 this year, explaining the necessity of purchasing the vehicles.

According to data from police headquarters, it is necessary to purchase a total of 722 vehicles for police. This proposed fleet included 38 jeeps, 250 double-cabin pickups, 56 single-cabin pickups, 2 patrol cars, 2 microbuses, 2 ambulances, 20 trucks, 2 buses, 12 prison vans, 285 motorcycles, 8 wreckers, 4 armoured personnel carriers (APCs), and 1 water cannon. The proposed number of vehicles, however, was reduced later.

After the procurement committee approved the proposal to buy the vehicles, it has been learned from the Finance Division that the proposed vehicles for police will be purchased from the budget of the 2024–25 fiscal year. Sources said that this proposal was not included in the official agenda of the procurement meeting held on Wednesday. The proposal was immediately tabled at the meeting held on the last working day before the Eid holidays.

When contacted, police headquarters assistant inspector general (media and public relations) Enamul Haque Sagar told Prothom Alo on Wednesday, “Many police vehicles sustained damage. Procurement of 200 vehicles has been approval, and this will undoubtedly speed up the operational capability of the police.” He, however, did not respond to queries on the progress of replacing other damaged vehicles.