Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) is going to conduct drug tests on their members who are suspected of drug use, and policemen who test positive will be thrown off the force, DMP Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam has said.
He issued the warning during a monthly crime conference at Rajarbagh Police Lines Auditorium in the capital on Sunday.
The DMP commissioner also said they have intelligence on policemen who are involved in the drug business and have asked them to stop their illicit activities.
He further said police must speak with drug addicted people, their guardians and relatives, in order to rescue them from addiction and ensure rehabilitation.
Drug tests were mandatory in the police recruitment process last year, said police officials.
All unit chiefs of police have the authority to perform dope tests on any policeman who behaves like a drug addict or has specific allegations against them.
In July, at least 20 police officers of Tejgaon, Adabar and Tejgaon Industrial police stations were awaiting action over their reported involvement in drug dealing, confirmed police sources.
The accused allegedly accepted cash in exchange for providing police protection to suspected drug dealers, and the crooked policemen’s names appeared during interrogation of suspected dealers arrested in recent anti-narcotics drives in several slums of Dhaka.
The crime conference reported that drug recoveries, drug-related cases and arrests have increased alarmingly in July.