File photo of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked the police to give the highest importance to people's basic and human rights and the rule of law while discharging their duties.

The PM was addressing the passing-out parade of the 35th BCS batch of assistant superintendents of police (ASPs) at the Bangladesh Police Academy here.

She asked the police to gain the trust of people through providing service. "And this is urgently needed," she said.

Hasina directed the police personnel to display a polite and sophisticated attitude towards women and children. "You must play the role of leaders to eliminate crime from society by building a people-friendly police force.”

The premier also asked the police force to fulfill the expectation of people.

While speaking of how the government has gained success in uprooting terrorism from the country, Hasina said drug was pushing the society towards the path of destruction like a disease.

“We have to save the nation from drugs. For that, you'll have to do special work ... we want you to take strong punitive actions against drug abusers, suppliers, traders and producers, whoever he or she is. For this, you must maintain good relations with the mass people," she said.

She has the belief that the police force will be successful in eliminating drugs from Bangladesh as they did in uprooting militancy, Hasina said.

The PM took salute and inspected the parade.

Hasina distributed medals among M Salman Farsi, Asma Akhter Sonia and Mahbub Hossain for their outstanding performance in different fields of the course.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Inspector General of Police Mohammad Javed Patwary and Principal of the academy Additional Inspector General Md Nazibur Rahman received the PM upon her arrival at the Sarda Police Academy.

Hasina urged the police to be more active in controlling new kinds of crimes at this time of fast-changing world. "You'll have to be efficient particularly in handling cybercrimes."

She said the government was committed to transforming Bangladesh Police into a smart, professional, efficient and people-friendly force to fulfill the expectations of people.

Hasina said for this purpose, her government had been working to modernise the police force since 2009 to strengthen their capability and ensure their effective role in containing crimes.

Members of the police are being imparted training in various disciplines to make them more efficient on modern technology, she said.

About terrorism and militancy, the PM said her government had been able to contain such vices with an iron fist and the success of the police in this regard had highly been acclaimed not only at home but also in the international arena.

She reiterated her firm stance that there would not be any room for terrorists, militants and drugs on Bangladeshi soil.

Hasina said the Bangladesh Police Academy in Sarda was being built as “a centre of excellence”. “For this, we're continuing reorganising its organogram, increasing manpower and the supply of necessary vehicles, equipment and logistics."

The PM mentioned that modern classrooms, computer labs, language lab, forensic demonstration lab, driving and shooting simulator are playing a supporting role in providing time-befitting training.

Besides these, the present government has established the Police Staff College to provide modern training to senior police officials.

A total of 123 ASPs, including 18 female officers, participated in the basic training of the newly recruited ASPs.