A severe shortage of manpower in the highway police is hampering road safety measures, leading to incidents like robbery and rape in moving buses across different roads and highways in Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh highway police is responsible for ensuring the security of approximately 9,000 kilometres of regional and national highways throughout the country, while their current capacity only covers around 3,500 kilometres.
The remaining 6,000 kilometers of roads are managed by district police, local police, and other units.
Incidents such as robbery and rape frequently occur on moving buses along highways.
Dhaka TribuneThe recent incident of rape on a moving bus in Tangail sparked nationwide criticism, prompting the highway police to increase surveillance on individuals related to public transportation, particularly drivers, assistants, and counter managers, to prevent any recurrence of such incidents.
Despite the shortage, every member of the highway police is working diligently to ensure the safe movement of passengers on various roads and highways day and night, according to officials.
Authorities explain that criminal incidents often occur on local buses operating on regional highways. These incidents typically happen when short-distance passengers are being transported at night due to the malicious intentions of unscrupulous individuals.
Unfortunately, when such incidents occur, few people come forward to report them or contact law enforcement.
Moreover, when long-distance public transports depart from the capital during the day or at night, individuals associated with transportation take photos of passengers under their management.
However, local vehicles traveling on various highways still have significant safety gaps.
To address these issues, the highway police have intensified patrolling in isolated areas of highways to prevent the recurrence of incidents like rape on moving buses and to curb robbery cases.
According to an official of the highway police, patrolling at night remains a key strategy. However, it is challenging to detect incidents occurring inside high-speed moving buses at night from the outside.
Conducting checks and raids at different locations often leads to traffic jams. Nevertheless, checkposts are set up at various times to ensure minimal disruption to traffic flow.
Bangla TribuneIn addition to patrolling, public transport drivers, assistants, and managers are placed under surveillance.
Awareness programs are being conducted to educate driver-helpers and owners of various public transport routes.
These programs not only focus on passenger safety but also inform drivers and helpers about their own safety concerns, emphasizing the importance of not picking up passengers from the road while operating buses at night.
Awareness campaigns are conducted at bus terminals and other regional areas to promote safety among both transport-related individuals and road users. Highway police officers consistently engage with these stakeholders to raise awareness and enhance safety measures.
Md Shahabuddin Khan, Chief Additional IGP of Highway Police, emphasizes that awareness is crucial in preventing any misconduct on the highways.
“Despite the lack of our own manpower, we are working day and night to keep traffic on the highways in coordination with various units including the district police. This requires everyone's cooperation and participation. Transport workers should be aware of picking up passengers from the road in public transport leaving for various destinations, specially at night,” he said.
The senior officer adds that reporting any discrepancies through the emergency number 999 enables the highway police to take prompt action.
He further requests transporters and passengers to remain vigilant to prevent incidents such as robbery or rape on the highways.