The deputy commissioner (DC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Gulshan Division, M Tanvir Ahmed, has been withdrawn from his post and attached to DMP headquarters, hours after the officer-in-charge (OC) of Gulshan Model Police Station was removed, five days after a procession by the activity-banned Awami League and its affiliated organizations in the capital’s Gulshan area.
DMP Commissioner Mosleh Uddin Ahmed signed an office order on Wednesday, attaching Tanvir Ahmed to DMP headquarters until further orders.
The order instructed him to hand over charge to the next senior officer and report to DMP headquarters. It cited administrative reasons for the decision.
Earlier on Wednesday, Gulshan Model Police Station OC Md Daud Hossain was also withdrawn and attached to the Central Reserve Office under the DMP headquarters and Administration Division.
The two officers were withdrawn five days after leaders and activists of the banned Awami League and its affiliated organizations brought out a procession on Road 3 near KFC in Gulshan on Friday.
Police moved to disperse the procession, during which two crude bombs were detonated, according to police. Police subsequently fired two rounds of rubber bullets to bring the situation under control. Two people were arrested at the scene and five unexploded crude bombs were recovered, police said.
A case was later filed at Gulshan Police Station under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Police had arrested 83 people in connection with the case by September 14, according to reports.
The DMP has cited administrative reasons for the withdrawal of both officers and has not publicly specified any allegation against them or directly linked the orders to the procession.
Speaking at an event at the secretariat on Tuesday, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said intelligence agencies had information about the planned procession in Gulshan.
He said police may not have anticipated that people who had gathered in the area for Friday prayers would later engage in such activities.
Referring to the incident, the home minister said some people had gathered in the area around 11am on the pretext of offering Friday prayers and that action was subsequently taken against them.
