Half of the army personnel responsible for controlling the law and order situation are being withdrawn from the field. The decision was made at a meeting of the core committee on law and order at the meeting room of the Home Ministry at the Secretariat on Tuesday.

The meeting said that half of the members will be temporarily removed for rest and election training. This will be effective from Wednesday. After their rest and training, the rest will be sent back to the field and removed.

A top official present at the meeting told Samakal that such a decision has been taken for the rest of the army members and election training. Now the army will decide as they wish.

The core committee meeting discussed the law and order situation, provocative statements on social media, the role of the police in the elections, and the recovery of looted weapons, along with the national elections to be held in February.

The meeting, chaired by the Home Affairs Advisor, was attended by Lutfe Siddiqui, Special Assistant to the Chief Advisor, Senior Secretary of the Home Ministry, Nasimul Ghani, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Baharul Alam, and top officials of the law enforcement agencies.

On August 5th of last year, during the student-public uprising

In the law and order situation that arose after the fall of the Awami League government, the armed forces (army, navy and air force) were given the power of special executive magistrates on September 17.

Keeping the army in the field for a long time is creating various complications. Sources claim that another purpose of the withdrawal of the army personnel is to see what kind of reaction is generated in the field and how normal the law and order situation remains – the government also wants to see.

Vault broken at Shahjalal, investigation underway into theft
Seven weapons were allegedly stolen from the burnt cargo complex at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka. A GD filed with the Airport Police Station said that a terrible fire broke out in the Cargo Village on October 18. Various import-export goods and equipment of some government agencies were stored there. Later, it was learned that a vault kept there was broken and seven weapons were stolen. Among them, there is an American M4 carbine and a Brazilian Taurus pistol, but it is not known which force they belong to.

Home Affairs Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said that an investigation is underway into the fire and theft. At a press conference after the core committee meeting, he said that letters have been sent to four-five countries for investigation. Experts from one or two countries have already arrived. Whether there was theft will be known after the investigation. If there was theft, by whom, and who is responsible – he will be brought to justice.

Extrajudicial killings are resolved legally
. In the 14 months of the interim government, there have been reports of around 40 extrajudicial killings. In response to a question about who is involved in these killings, the Home Affairs Advisor said, “Whether it is the security forces or any force or whoever is responsible for the killings, everyone will be brought to justice.” In response to a question about whether the military will have judicial powers during the election, he said, “The military has magisterial powers right now. Why will it be closed during the election? Are we closing it or not?”

Delay in allocating funds for purchasing body cameras
Several officials present at the meeting told Samakal that IG of Police Baharul Alam said in the meeting that the government has approved the proposal to purchase about 40,000 body cameras for the police to strengthen the security of polling stations in the elections. The finance department is delaying the allocation of funds for the purchase of these body cameras. However, there is not much time left for the national elections. The Home Affairs Advisor has instructed the senior secretary of the ministry to quickly complete the work of allocating funds.

The color of the uniforms of the police, RAB and Ansar may change.
After the July uprising, ordinary police members demanded that the current uniforms be changed. In view of that demand, the government decided to change the uniforms of the police, RAB and Ansar forces at the beginning of this year. According to meeting sources, the new uniforms were presented to the core committee meeting yesterday for final approval after 9 months. However, the core committee members asked to reconsider the matter. The color of the police uniforms was decided to be iron, olive for RAB and golden wheat for Ansar. An official present at the meeting said that the meeting also recommended not to hold a book fair before the elections.

Regarding the progress in recovering weapons before the elections, the Home Affairs Advisor informed about the recovery of 11 firearms in Raozan, Chittagong and said, Raozan and Fatikchhari are a bit difficult areas. It was before, it is still there. Criminals commit crimes in these places and go to the hills.

When asked what action will be taken against those who give illegal benefits to leaders and activists
, the Home Affairs Advisor said, “If anyone is found to be negligent, he will be brought under the law immediately. Earlier, a GD was filed. This time, it will be brought under the law immediately. The election should be festive.”

Many of the OCs who served in various police stations in the past elections are now OCs in various police stations of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police. In response to the question whether any action will be taken regarding them, the Home Affairs Advisor said, “We have said that we will try to change most of those who were in the 2014, 2018 and 2024 elections. We also have limitations. We cannot do it for everyone. First, we will remove those who were involved in three elections. Then those who were involved in two. If we still see that the manpower remains, then we will remove those involved in one. I will not be able to appoint and bring in a new OC. Then we will see that there are no complaints against the one who was involved in one election. We will have to put him to good use.” The Home Affairs Advisor said, “The Police Commission will be formed soon.”

Responding to a question about the police officers who have fled since the July coup, Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said, “All efforts are being made to bring back those who have fled outside the country. Apart from this, provocative statements are being made on social media from within the country and outside the country to create chaos in various ways.”

Decision not to allow Zakir Naik to come for now
It has been decided not to allow Indian-origin Islamic speaker Zakir Naik to come to Bangladesh for now. It was discussed in the core committee meeting that if Zakir Naik comes to Bangladesh, there will be a huge crowd. A large number of law enforcement officers will be needed to control the crowd. There is no opportunity to deploy so many members at the moment because of his coming to Dhaka. Everyone is now focused on the elections. It was decided in the meeting that he can come to Dhaka after the national elections. But not before the elections.

An organization wants to bring Zakir Naik to Dhaka for two days on November 28 and 29. He also has plans to go outside Dhaka. However, discussions have been going on for a few days regarding Zakir Naik’s visit to Dhaka.