Any superintendent, officer-in-charge or inspector of the police force will be transferred immediately if incidents of forced disappearance or abduction were to take place under their jurisdiction, the authority concerned has decided.
A meeting at the Police Headquarters, chaired by Inspector General of Police (IGP) Hassan Mahmood Khandker, made the decision on April 30, a senior police official who attended the meeting told the Dhaka Tribune on condition of anonymity.
Following the abduction of seven people including Narayanganj city councillor Nazrul Islam and lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarker on April 27, the Police Headquarters held several meetings and decided to launch special drives to nab the abductors.
“We have asked our law enforcement agencies to identify those involved in the incidents of forced disappearance and abduction, and arrest them immediately,” the IGP had told the Dhaka Tribune.
Sources said a special team of police was working to identify the abductors, while a deputy IGP under the Police Headquarters was monitoring the activities of the team, which has been asked to submit daily reports on their progress.
A special team of Rapid Action Battalion has also started working to investigate the incidents of abduction.
“A special team is working in the field to investigate the incidents of disappearance and abduction,” Additional Director General of RAB Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan told the Dhaka Tribune.
The special teams have so far arrested 41 persons across the country in connection with recent abductions.
Of them, 11 people were arrested in Natore, two people in Tangail, and nine people were arrested in Comilla and Laxmipur, while three people were rescued.
Meanwhile, work on installing CCTV cameras has started in Gabtoli, Gazipur, Jatrabari and Babu Bazar areas. CCTV monitoring will also be introduced in the areas experiencing a higher rate of abductions, sources said.
