Dabiruddin Ahmed, a sub-inspector at Kalabagan police station, has had difficult weeks this month, being constantly on alert during the ongoing blockade by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.
When this correspondent approached Dabir and his five-member police team near Kalabagan around 5pm yesterday, they all looked beaten down with exhaustion.
“We have been on non-stop duty since the blockade began. We have not been able to rest for longer than a few minutes,” he told this reporter when he identified himself and asked about their weary state.
“There was one time during the past 18 days when I was on duty for six days straight – without any break,” he said. “When I felt too sleepy or could not carry on due to being tired, I just got into the car and rested for a couple of hours – that is it.”
It is not only Dabir who is sleepless; his family is suffering along with him.
“The job of a police member is always a challenging one, but in recent days, it has been especially trying. Besides being on constant vigilance for long periods of time, I spent the time fearing sudden attacks of petrol bombs and such,” Dabir said.
“My family cannot sleep at night either; whenever I am on duty at night, they stay up with their eyes glued to the TV, looking for news reporting attacks on police, anxious for my safety.”
Dabir’s situation is what the members of Bangladesh Police have been facing since the beginning of the blockade. The OCs, sub-inspectors and constables of the country’s police stations have been on duty round the clock, while the members of the reserve force have been on duty for 12 to 18 hours every day.
Sources said getting food and other commodities have been difficult for the force during this round-the-clock duty; the possibility of an attack at any moment is an added worry. Even worse is the fact that there will be no overtime payment for this additional duty.
Nearly 25,000 police personnels have been on duty in Dhaka district since the blockade began. To strengthen the force, additional police were recently brought in to the district from the parts of the country where picketing and other attacks are reportedly less violent.
This correspondent found two buses full of police members arriving at the capital on January 16, coming from Gopalganj police line. One of those officials, seeking anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune that they were brought in to strengthen the force on duty in the capital, adding that police members from Faridpur police line have been called in to the capital as well.
A number of inspectors and OCs of different police stations in Dhaka told the Dhaka Tribune that they have been on constant high alert since the blockade began.
Rafiqul Islam, OC at Gulshan police station, said: “Due to the work, I have not been able to sleep at home at night. Most of the time, I have to make do with taking short naps at the station.”
<SUBHEADER> Double work, no reward
The blockade duty is an addition to the regular duties police have to carry out every day, such as investigation of pending cases, arrests, producing criminals before court, etc. But there has been no announcement of overtime pay, the police officials claimed.
On the other hand, the intelligence agencies have not been much help, unlike the time in 2013, said an insider in police.
“The political situation was volatile in 2013 too, before the 10th parliamentary elections, but then the intelligence agencies helped with providing information about potential violent incidents and other situations, which is not happening now,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
He mentioned the incidents of crude bombs and firearms being found recently inside the High court premises, and said the intelligence agencies did not provide any information in those regards either.
GG Biswas, OC at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station, said: “We are working round the clock during this political unrest because in case of any incident, the OCs of the police stations are responsible for leading their teams to tackle the situation.
“We also lack sufficient resources; we do not have enough vehicles for patrolling, which is why we have to get vehicles from outside to patrol the streets,” he added.
Anisur Rahman, a constable from Rajarbagh police line who is on duty at Jatrabari area, said he has to go to his station to start his duty around 4:30am, and he does not get off duty before 10pm to get back to his barrack in Rajarbagh.
“During the night shift, I start at 5pm, and do not get off until around 9am the next day. It has been the same for the past 18 days,” he said.
Habil, another constable who is stationed at Moghbazar area, said: “I have been spending the days and nights on foot. Every day, I tell my family that I would go home the next day, but then I have to postpone it for work every day.”
Nusrat, a female constable who is on duty at Dainik Bangla intersection in Motijheel, said: “Being on duty for long hours, we can hardly go for bathroom breaks. When we can, finding a bathroom is rather difficult. Then there is the problem of not being able to get decent food.”
However, Sohel Ahmed, assistant commissioner (force) at Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), said the police members were not being put on duty for unreasonable stretch of time.
“We are maintaining a schedule of duty shifts – mainly morning-evening shift and evening-morning shift. No police official is assigned to be on
duty beyond one shift, and when a situation arises, we send additional police as necessary,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
Asaduzzaman Miah, the newly-appointed DMP commissioner, said: “We are a trained and specialised force, so why are they getting tired while performing their duties? If the state demands, then we will perform our duties continuously over months, years and, if needed, over decades, as we love our country and it is our duty to provide security to our citizens.”