Nine out of 10 visitors lobbied for postings

Benazir Ahmed

Aiming to put an end to the culture of lobbying, Inspector General of Police Benazir Ahmed directed officials concerned to formulate and implement a realistic transfer and posting policy for officers and members of the police force.

Over the last three months after he became police chief, 90 percent of the total visitors lobbied for transfers and postings of officers during meetings with him, the IGP said while addressing the special law and order conference organised by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) at the Bangladesh Police Auditorium in Rajarbagh yesterday.

Benazir was the chief guest at the conference.

Such traditional trends of transfer have already been replaced by innovative methods, he said, adding that the transfer and posting will be done in regulatory manner, not through lobbying.

The IGP said that superintendents of police (SPs) and deputy Inspector general (DIGs) often visit him in the office and say "they want to do something for the force".

"The SPs want their postings in districts and the DIGs want postings in ranges," a high official present at the closed-door conference quoted the IGP as saying.

Speaking to The Daily Star, the officer, under anonymity, further quoted the police chief as saying that "if all SPs want their postings in districts and DIGs in ranges, then what will happen to other police units?"

A number of officers and members do not want to go outside Dhaka, considering educational benefits for their children, IGP Benazir said, adding that initiatives have already been taken to set up quality educational institutions and medical facilities in divisional cities to solve this crisis.

Earlier, the police chief directed officials concerned to formulate a policy to eventually distribute SPs working places. The policy will ensure how long they will work in Dhaka and how long they will work in districts, a high official of Police Headquarters told The Daily Star.

DMP Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam presided over the conference, which was attended by senior police officials, including officers and in-charges of all DMP police stations.

The IGP further said that the attitude of police have changed over the last three months during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and they were able to ensure a place in people's hearts.

"The respect that we have earned over the last three months cannot be bought with money and to get that respect and love from people, you have to be with the people, you have to go to them, you have to love them," he said.

He further said that police must be free from all kinds of corruption.

"Our position against corruption is 'zero tolerance'. There is no place for corruption in the police," said the IGP.

"No policeman should be involved with narcotics. Police must be narcotics free. We [also] have to stop police brutality and use our legal capacity," he added.

At the beginning of his speech, Benazir paid tribute to the 46 martyred policemen who sacrificed their lives to protect people from the spread of the coronavirus.

He also conveyed heartfelt condolences to their family members.