8,000 security personnel to guard 1,500 delegates

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on Wednesday said that stringent security measures would be taken on the occasion of the 136th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) conference, which is scheduled to be held in Dhaka from April 1-5. “The whole city will be covered with tight security by the time delegates start to come into the country from March 24 onwards,” said DMP Commissioner Md Asaduzzaman Mia. The comments were made after a meeting at the DMP commissioner’s office to discuss preparations for the IPU conference. DMP authorities, the IPU conference organising committee and other concerned bodies were in attendance at the meeting. Bangladesh is hosting the conference this year, with 1,500 foreign delegates expected to attend. Commissioner Asaduzzaman said about 7,000-8,000 law enforcers will be deployed for security. He called the conference the largest ever in Bangladesh, saying: “We will deploy uniformed and plain-clothes security personnel at the hotels, the conference venue and other important places in the city.” The conference will be held at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, with representatives, speakers, deputy speakers and parliament members from 168 countries scheduled to take part. Grey Advertising Bangladesh Ltd has been hired to manage the international conference, with the assistance of several other local event management companies. On April 28 last year, a formal agreement to convene the 136th IPU Assembly in Dhaka was signed by Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong on behalf of their respective bodies at the River Room of the UK House of Lords. Bangladesh was granted its IPU membership in 1972. MP Saber Hossain Chowdhury is the incumbent president of the body after having been elected in 2014. The 125-year old organisation was established in 1889.