The police headquarters have instructed all its members, particularly those on duty at security check posts, to open fire in self-defence if needed.
This comes in the wake of the death of a constable of industrial police in miscreants’ attack in Ashulia near Dhaka yesterday.
A state-run intelligence agency has recently alerted the government about possible security breaches and sabotages at a total of 408 establishments across the country including the Secretariat, the court premises, jails, airports and media offices.
Based on the intelligence report, police authorities yesterday visibly beefed up security arrangements at the 68 jails across the country.
Jahangir Kabir, senior jail super of Dhaka Central Jail, said that alongside regular jail police, additional policemen and members of RAB will remain deployed outside the jail.
Last month, based on similar intelligence reports that criminals might cause bomb blasts, the authorities of the airports in Dhaka, Sylhet, Chittagong and Rajshahi beefed up security arrangements.
Recently, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has deployed dog squads at the international airports in Chittagong and Sylhet.
Security personnel on duty at check posts are usually not allowed to use their firearms unless there is an emergency.
Constable Mukul of Ashulia Industrial Police, who was killed yesterday, is the second law enforcer to be killed in about two weeks while on check post duty. Earlier, on October 22, an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) named Ibrahim Hossain Molla was also stabbed to death at a check post in Dhaka’s Gabtoli area.
The number of police check posts in the capital city has been significantly increased after the murders of two foreign nationals in Dhaka and Rangpur last month. But at most of these check posts, security personnel take very little safety measure.
According to sources, the police authorities have asked it members, especially those on check post duty, to not let boredom chip in and remain on high alert, wear bulletproof vests and helmets while on duty, and keep their arms ready for any kind of situation.
Law enforcers have also been asked to keep hand-held cameras with them as additional security measure alongside the closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed at various points int he city.
Yesterday, Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) also said that they have increased the number of check posts around the city.
CMP Commissioner Abdul Jalil said: “Police can open fire in self-defence in conformity with existing laws. However, they have been asked not to harass any innocent person while conducting search at the check posts.
“A policeman will point his firearm at people at the time of frisking to avert any possible attack on them,” the CMP Commissioner said.
