There are 464 police stations across Bangladesh, and the force has nearly 12,000 vehicles to carry out its duties, which is not sufficient. The vehicle shortage has led to disruptions in delivering services effectively, law enforcement officers have complained.
According to the police headquarters, the Bangladesh Police has 11,923 vehicles, including 6,445 motorcycles, 5,478 SUVs, other cars, pickups and double-cabin pickup vans. However, there is a shortage of about 4,500 vehicles.
The Bangladesh Police has 178 offices under 36 main units and 464 police stations across the country, and the total workforce is around 213,000.
Out of the 2,763 police vehicles that the Ministry of Home Affairs has declared unusable, 1,988 have already been sold off, and the money from their sale has been deposited into the government coffer. A request has been made to the ministry to consider 738 more vehicles aged over 20 years old to be unusable. The process of getting new vehicles cannot begin until the old ones are officially declared useless.
In the past three fiscal years, a total of 1,017 vehicles were bought, including 665 motorcycles, according to police headquarters sources.
Over 100 new positions have been established and individuals have been promoted to roles like superintendent of police, additional deputy inspector general and deputy inspector general of police. However, these officers have not been allotted vehicles yet.
Presently, the Bangladesh Police is facing a shortage of 423 jeeps.
A police headquarters officer said: "Although there are two pickups in metropolitan and district headquarters police stations, there is still only one double-cabin pickup at 190 police stations of the country. With a pickup, it is not possible to provide security over a police station area, including maintaining law and order. "
Apart from maintaining law and order, different units of the Bangladesh Police have been ensuring security at various development project sites and industrial units, government properties, international events, etc.
There is no scope to limit such security activities, but they are growing. Therefore, it is important to increase the number of vehicles for the police to perform their duties.
Police headquarters sources said the government has allowed the purchase of 100 double-cabin pickups for the Bangladesh Police with special consideration ahead of the national election.
Before the last parliamentary elections, 1,709 different types of vehicles were purchased through two development projects, which are currently being used in different places, including Dhaka.
Officials say without development projects, it is not possible to solve the problem of police vehicle shortage through the revenue budget.
Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Enamul Haque Sagar said: "The government has increased logistics support for the police. The government is serious about the resolution of various issues including vehicle shortage. The police have been working successfully to ensure public safety and combat terrorism with efficiency.”
