Police high-ups concerned over activities of land grabbers
Police high-ups have expressed their concern to the home minister about the activities of two land developers' companies and also criticised the moves of some government bodies regarding the police department.
At a recent meeting with Home Minister Sahara Khatun and Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder at the Police Headquarters in the city, a senior police official observed that the police might feel disappointed as the government is not paying enough attention to the misdeeds of the land grabbers, sources said.
The police official said the land developers are creating obstacles to implementing a housing project for the police officers.
The law enforcers would suffer from low morale if they have to give in to the pressure from the land grabbers, he added.
According to the sources, both the previous BNP-led four-party alliance government and the caretaker government approved the project titled 'Police Officers' Housing Society' on 200 acres of land and the present government also wants to implement the project. But the project faces uncertainty because of interference from well-connected land grabbers.
Another senior police officer expressed his concern over developments related to the formation of the proposed 'Industrial Police'.
Sources said the Police Department proposed forming the Industrial Police with 2400 police members and the establishment ministry approved creation of 1580 posts for the new forces. But the finance ministry rejected both the proposals and suggested forming the Industrial Police with the members form the Ansar.
The senior police official told the home minister that the Ansar members could only guard places but they are not capable of doing the job of police such as policing and legal dealings.
Talking to The Daily Star, an official said, "At present, over 7,000 Ansar members are deployed to guard the industries in Gazipur, Savar and Narayanganj. But they could not deal with the labour unrest without the help from the police."
Another senior police official expressed concern over objections by the home and finance ministries to the police department's spending for entertainment purpose.
Sources said the police department sent a proposal to the government, seeking allocation of Tk 10,000 for each police station for the purpose of 'community policing' and Tk 5,000 for entertainment purpose. But the government did not approve any of the proposals.
At the meeting, Home Minister Sahara Khatun assured the police officials of looking into the issues raised by them.
IGP Noor Mohammad chaired the meeting while Deputy Inspector General (DIG-admin) Benazir Ahmed, Assistant Inspector General (AIG-establishment) Mahbubur Rahman, AIG (admin) Mohammad Ibrahim Fatemi, AIG (crime) Mohammad Shah Alam and AIG (finance) Sahabuddin Koreshi presented keynote papers on the present situation of policing and future planning.
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