Nineteen senior police officials, including the commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP), have been transferred in another reshuffle among the law enforcement agency higher-ups.
A notification in this regard was issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday.
Golam Kibria, commissioner of SMP, has been transferred to the Special Protection Battalion (SPBn) as deputy inspector general (DIG) of Police.
At the same time, Md Nisharul Islam, who was DIG of SPBn, has been appointed the new commissioner of SMP.
The decision comes at a time when law enforcement members in Sylhet are under pressure owing to some incidents that have grabbed the attention of the whole nation.
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The incidents – the death of Rayhan Ahmed in police custody and the gang-rape of a woman on the hostel premises of Murari Chand (MC) College – were condemned heavily by the public.
Following Rayhan’s death, Bandarbazar police outpost sub-inspector (SI) Akbar Bhuiyan, who was suspended, went fugitive, which further fuelled public indignation.
Rayhan’s death in questionable circumstances led to Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen visiting his family and describing the entire incident a disgrace for the police.
In September, Bangladesh Police had removed over 1,300 police officials out of some 1,500 posted in the southeastern district of Cox’s Bazar. That reshuffle in the police administration had come nearly two months after the killing by police of retired Major Sinha Md Rashed Khan.