The responsibility of maintaining security inside Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka is being handed over to the Armed Police Battalion (APBn), while the members of the Air Force task force will be sent back to their barracks as per the decision of the Chief Adviser’s Office.
The decision was taken after a year of disputes between the two forces. Recently, the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh sent a letter to the inspector general of Police (IGP) requesting the withdrawal of the additional DIG from the airport, which caused an uproar. Police sources said the government made this decision after considering all aspects.
APBn complained that Aviation Security (AvSec) had removed their office from inside the airport. The dispute eventually reached the Chief Adviser’s Office. Following a meeting at the office on Wednesday, six decisions were made, including the immediate deployment of APBn inside the airport and the return of Air Force members to their force after completion of duties.
After the political change in August after the mass uprising, about 1,000 Ansar members who were in charge of airport security left overnight as part of the “Ansar rebellion.”
At that time, the deployment of Air Force members for airport security was announced. At the same time, since August, APBn members were also prevented from serving inside the airport.
Later in late October, APBn officers working at the airport alleged that AvSec members had removed furniture from their office room inside the terminal (airside). APBn filed a general diary (GD) with the airport police station in this regard. This incident triggered conflict between the two forces. In addition, several incidents of passenger harassment by Air Force members at the airport drew criticism.
AvSec accused APBn officials of supplying video footage of such incidents to the media. Most recently, last week, CAAB member (security) Air Commodore Asif Iqbal sent a letter to police headquarters accusing the APBn commander of breaching protocol during a meeting.
According to police and CAAB sources, the meeting at the Chief Adviser’s Office was chaired by Lutfey Siddiqi, the Chief Adviser’s special assistant on international affairs, Inspector General of Police Baharul Alam, among others attended the meeting.
At the beginning, Lutfey Siddiqi explained the background and stressed inter-agency cooperation at the airport. “We must demonstrate professionalism and respect in our words and actions,” he said.
IGP Baharul Alam said: “The main task of the police at the airport is crime prevention and detection. Legally, no other agency can perform these functions.”
Six decisions were adopted in the meeting. These are:
To ensure single command, regulation, and control of the airport, all effective agencies will operate under the sole authority of CAAB.
APBn and AvSec will perform duties under CAAB’s authority.
APBn will begin operations inside the terminal building as soon as possible.
The IGP and CAAB chairman will hold meetings to address operational challenges.
The Air Force task force will return to its parent force upon completion of its duties.
Security meetings must be held weekly at all airports.
