Dhaka: Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has appointed 426 individuals as an ‘auxiliary’ force to help maintain law and order in the capital. ‘We have already appointed 426 persons as ‘auxiliary police officers’ to help police check crimes and thus maintain law and order. They have been working as ‘eye of police’,’ DMP spokesman and deputy commissioner Mohammad Talebur Rahman told BSS.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the auxiliary police force was initially tasked to help police ensure security at shopping malls and marketplaces due to the influx of crowds ahead of the Eid festival. These officers are expected to be soon deployed in commercial and residential areas across the city.
The auxiliary police officers are provided pink-colored armbands containing the DMP logo and the words ‘sahayak police officer’ or ‘auxiliary police officer’. They also receive certificates of appointment. Rahman mentioned that individuals with experience in security-related duties, such as security guards, were primarily selected for these roles. The appointments were made by DMP Commissioner SM Sazzat Ali under Section 10 of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Ordinance, 1976, which allows the police commissioner to appoint auxiliary officers when additional support is needed.
The certificate of appointment, signed by the DMP chief, states, ‘Mr —– whose photograph is affixed hereto, has been appointed as an auxiliary police officer of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, and is vested with the powers, duties, privileges of a police-officer.’ Subsection (2)(b) of Section 10 further stipulates that auxiliary officers have the same powers, immunities, duties, and authority as regular police officers and receive similar legal protection.
The DMP spokesman also noted that the ‘auxiliary police officers’ have the authority to detain crime suspects and hand them over to regular police for subsequent legal actions. However, the duration of their appointment is yet to be decided by the DMP. The DMP commissioner had previously mentioned that the decision to appoint auxiliary police officers was made to enhance security during the Ramadan and Eid shopping periods.