Narco Trade, Drug Abuse:: Police high-ups irked over some cops’ involvement
![Police implicate dead men in vandalism case](https://tds-images.thedailystar.net/sites/default/files/styles/big_202/public/images/2023/01/07/bangladesh_police_logo_final_latest_use_this.jpg)
Top police officials have expressed resentment over field-level officials abusing drugs and being involved in the narcotics trade, and warned of stern action against them.
The warning came on Saturday at a crime conference, chaired by Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, on the sidelines of the just-concluded Police Week-2023.
"When our members are detained with narcotics, we are ashamed. Some of their dope test results also come back positive," said a high official quoting the IGP.
The IGP then urged all to place utmost importance on ensuring discipline within the force.
Field-level officials, including the deputy inspector generals and superintendents of police, participated in the meeting at the Rajarbagh Police Auditorium.
Sharing the meeting minutes, a highly-placed source said the police chief also spoke about allegations of gambling at fairs held under the banner of the Bangladesh Police Women Welfare Association in different places.
Mamun told the field officials that no such fair can be arranged without approval from the Police Headquarters, he said.
However, the allegation of police officials' involvement in drug abuse and trade is not new.
Till date, at least 212 police personnel of Dhaka Metropolitan Police were suspended after they tested positive in the dope tests.
The DMP and Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) introduced the test for its members ranked between constable and inspector in early 2020.
The CMP suspended 12 policemen over the last three years.
Contacted, DMP Commissioner Khandker Golam Faruq yesterday told The Daily Star, "We have suspended around 212 policemen after their dope test results returned positive."
Regarding the police chief's warning, he said, "The dope test operation is underway and we will not spare anyone involved with drug dealing or addiction."
Abdul Waris, deputy commissioner (headquarters) of CMP, told this newspaper that the dope test results of 14 officials, ranked between constable and sub-inspector, were found to be positive so far.
"Of them, we have already suspended 12 and the process to suspend the other two is underway."
Besides drug abuse, policemen were also arrested and suspended over narcotics possession.
On January 2, 2022, the CMP authorities suspended Fakhrul Islam, sub-inspector of Bakalia Police Station, and Md Kamal, assistant sub-inspector of Akbar Shah Police Station, after they were found involved in the narcotics trade.
On September 6 last year, police arrested Mahbubul Alam, an assistant sub-inspector of Pallabi Police Station, and two informants -- Md Rubel and Sohel Rana -- on charges of falsely implicating a man in a drug case by sneaking yaba pills into his pocket in Dhaka's Cantonment Railway Station area.
Speaking to The Daily Star yesterday, Md Monzur Rahman, assistant inspector general of the PHQ, reiterated that the police chief urged all officials to ensure that no one is involved in the drug trade.
At Saturday's conference, IGP Mamun directed the officials to work unitedly for the force's image.
He also suggested the senior officers increase their involvement in using technology and traditional methods, along with the digital procedure, for investigation, sources said.
The IGP asked the officials to give priority to policing before all else.
Speaking at the conference, PHQ Additional IGP (admin) Md Kamrul Ahsan suggested the formation of narcotic cells in police stations to take action against drug abusers and traders.
He then asked for training on preventing militancy by using the information on militancy cases and the militants who are on bail.
Kamrul also said that while traditional crimes have come down, digital crimes are on the rise.
"Police stations are centres of investigation. [But] Officials working in police stations lack the knowledge regarding digital systems," a meeting source quoted him as saying.
Meanwhile, police high officials at the conference have decided to give special attention to achieving their demands made during Police Week-2023 before the election, according to meeting sources.
Comments