B'desh top cop urges policemen to maintain public safety amid protests

A top police official in Bangladesh has called on every member of the police force to resume their duties gradually and maintain public safety and law and order amidst reports of attacks on the law enforcement authorities in the violence-hit nation.

Additional Inspector General of Police (AIG) A.K.M. Shahidur Rahman, who was appointed as the focal person of the Bangladesh Police on Tuesday to handle the current crisis, asked his force to ignore rumours.

"The police are friends of the people and work for the public. We cannot imagine a society without the police. Therefore, I request our police members once again to ignore rumours and return to their duties in a phased manner, ensuring that security arrangements are properly in place," he said, emphasising the crucial role of the police in maintaining public safety.

Most police stations in the country, including the capital Dhaka, currently have no police personnel present, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

Multiple police officers have reported that over four hundred police stations across the country have experienced attacks, vandalism, arson, and looting. In this situation, no one feels safe staying in their respective stations or offices, leading everyone to seek safe shelters.

A police headquarters official mentioned that the police have not faced such a situation since 1971, the report said.

In many places, clashes broke out between the police and agitated mobs. Consequently, law enforcement officers vacated various stations overnight.

After the attack on the police headquarters on Monday night, senior officials were evacuated to safety by helicopter. Many climbed over walls to escape the headquarters.

Law enforcement broke down in Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on Monday, with police absent from their duty to keep law and order or manage traffic, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Since Monday afternoon, the police presence in urban areas dwindled, and by Tuesday, the breakdown of the police system was evident throughout the country.

Attacks on police stations and facilities across the country, resulting in numerous police casualties, have led to this unprecedented situation, the newspaper reported.

As the army took charge following Hasina's ouster and the death toll in the violence in which temples were also attacked rose to 440, President Mohammed Shahabuddin dissolved Parliament on Tuesday and appointed 84-year-old Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus as the head of an upcoming interim government.

Meanwhile, the readymade garment (RMG) and textile factories across the country will reopen on Wednesday, the paper said.

Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), the apex trade body of the country's RMG manufacturers, urged its members to open their factories on Wednesday.

BGMEA Director Mohiuddin Rubel, a participant at the meeting, told the paper that they were going to reopen their factories for the betterment of the country's economy and workers.

In a separate statement, Sulov Chowdhury, CEO of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), urged its members to reopen their factories as there is an announcement to keep industrial units open in the present context.

However, considering the current situation, he also urged the BKMEA member factories to ensure the overall safety of the factories, along with their workers.