The authorities have initiated the process to revoke the official passports of dismissed police officers and those in hiding.
The passport department has requested the names and national ID numbers of these officers from the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the cancellations will be enacted upon receiving these details from Police Headquarters.
Department head Major General Md Nurul Anwar confirmed the information.
Among those whose passports are being cancelled are former Special Branch Additional IGP Monirul Islam, former DMP commissioner Habibur Rahman, DIG Harunor Rashid and Additional DIG Biplob Kumar Sarkar.
Sources said the decision to cancel these passports had been made to prevent the officers – many of whom went into hiding after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government on August 5 – from fleeing the country.
Investigation findings show that Harunor Rashid, former DMP additional commissioner, is on the top of the list of absconding police officers. He is still on Police Headquarters's roster, although he is no longer on duty. He also ranks high on a list of suspects in cases related to casualties caused by law enforcement actions before and after August 5. However, he reportedly fled the country, having obtained a regular passport in place of his official one through fraudulent means, which sources indicate will also be cancelled.
Sources added that this controversial officer had been named in 38 cases.
Harun gained significant notoriety in his last role as additional commissioner of the DMP Detective Branch.
The fugitive list includes five prominent additional DIGs, who are officially listed as absent from duty.
Biplob Kumar Sarkar, another former DMP additional commissioner, is second on the list. He faces 27 cases related to violence wrought upon students and civilians, and has reportedly escaped to India.
Also absent from their posts are additional DIGs Proloy Kumar Joarder, Khondker Nurunnabi, SM Mehedi Hasan and Sanjit Kumar Roy, each of whom faces multiple cases related to casualties around August 5.
Other officers, including Additional DIG Uttam Kumar Pal, SPs Abu Maruf Hossain and Shah Noor Alam Patwary, former RAB additional SP Rowshanul Haque Soikat, and ASPs Mofizur Rahman Palash, Arifuzzaman, Al Imran Hossain and Iftekhar Mahmud, are absent on grounds of illness. Another notable additional DIG, Md Moniruzzaman, has resigned.
According to Police Headquarters, ASP John Rana resigned on August 2, before the August 5 incidents, and his resignation was processed through the Rangpur DIG office and sent to the home ministry on August 28.
The list of 187 absconding police personnel also includes five inspectors, 14 sub-inspectors, nine assistant sub-inspectors, seven nayeks and 132 constables, including two female officers.
A senior police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said multiple police teams across the country were actively working to arrest the fugitive officers and bring them to justice.
In response to a question, he acknowledged the challenges in bringing back those who had fled abroad, adding that specific information on their locations was unavailable.
The officer said some had attempted to flee but had been unsuccessful and remained in hiding within the country. “The police are making efforts to locate and apprehend them.”
