March 1 to be observed as Police Memorial Day

Bangladesh Police will observe “Police Memorial Day” on March 1 every year to honour the police members who sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. On the day, authorities will pay tribute to the martyred policemen at a temporary monument which has already been set up on the Police Staff College premises. All police units nationwide will observe the day with separate programmes to show respect to their departed colleagues. “This year, we will honour a total of 128 police officials and members who lost their lives while on duty in 2016,” Assistant Inspector General Sahely Ferdous said. “We built a temporary monument for now to commemorate all those policemen who died in the line of duty, while the design and construction of a permanent monument is already underway,” she said. On Wednesday, Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Hoque is scheduled to place a floral wreath before the monument at Police Staff College at 10am. After that, families of departed policemen will be honoured at the PSC Auditorium where the inspector general will be present as chief guest. Two years ago, Bangladesh Police authorities learned that police officers who died on duty were not getting a proper departmental honour including the guard of honour at their funeral. Police HQ subsequently issued a letter to all units and stations to follow the proper departmental protocol for the fallen police officers. They were also instructed to maintain accurate data and information on the departed policemen and their families. According to police records, a total 1,139 policemen died in the last 25 years in the line of duty both at home and during peacekeeping missions abroad. Among the deceased, a majority were constables who sacrificed their lives to save civilians, respective units and senior officials, according to the police HQ record book. During the 1971 Liberation War, over a thousand police officers from all ranks gave their lives fighting for an independent Bangladesh. Memorial Day is observed in many countries around the world to honour those who died serving their country, but it is the first time that Bangladesh Police is going to observe the day.