In the first phase, a total of 900 police members will be withdrawn closing 25 police outposts -- nine from Bandarban, six from Khagrachhari and 10 from Rangamati. An additional 1800 members of the police force will be reduced by phases from the CHT, highly placed sources of the government said.

The sources also said that the measures are being taken following the directives of the Armed Forces Division of the Prime Minister's office.

The police sources said general officer commanding (GOC) of Chittagong region has been supervising the withdrawal. They will be placed under the newly formed elite forces including Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), Cheetah and Kobra.

Ma Ma Ching, chairman of the Bandarban district council, said that the government did not inform her anything of the withdrawal.

In the 1980s, considering emergency in the CHT, all the members of Armed Police Battalion (APBn), Ansar, VDP and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) working in the region were brought under the army command.