80,000 cops appointed politically in 15 years: DMP chief

Over 80,000 members of the police force, which comprises around 2 lakh personnel, were recruited over the past 15 years based on their political affiliations, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner SM Sazzat Ali yesterday.

“In the last 15 years, different types of scrutiny have been done before appointments to know the political affiliation of candidates, their fathers, grandfathers, and even their predecessors,” he said replying to a query at his maiden “meet the press” at the DMP media centre.

“Approximately 80,000-90,000 members were recruited through the process. We cannot tell 80 to 90 thousand police personnel to go home,” he said.

The commissioner, however, said many of those who committed actions outside their professional duties have fled, and police are taking steps against many of them.

He expressed regret over the unprofessional behaviour of police members during the July uprising.

The CMP chief emphasised that Dhaka dwellers are doing well compared to many other major cities around the world in terms of crime situation.

Sharing his experience of a recent visit to the New Market area, the DMP chief said the hawkers have grabbed a part of the roads alongside the footpath.

“I called the New Market zone’s assistant commissioner and officer-in-charge and talked to them but I could not order them to evict the hawkers. I have to act humane,” he said.

“These people have been maintaining their families with their daily income of Tk 300-500. I can’t tell them to ‘get out’ overnight,” he said.

“I asked them [officers] to tell the hawkers to set up their shops on the footpath, not on the roads,” he said.

“If they are evicted, the unemployment rate will increase and so will the incidents of mugging. There are many problems in a poor country and those are linked to each other,” he added.

The DMP chief said they want to be a service provider in the city.

Now, the police will respond within one or two hours of filing a general diary, instead of 48 or 72 hours as seen in the past, he said.

He urged the city residents not to pay extortion.

“If society doesn’t protest against extortion, it won’t be possible to eliminate it. Do not pay extortion money. We will look into how the extortionists are collecting it,” he said adding, “Extortion is driving up the prices of daily essentials.”

Highlighting Dhaka’s traffic system, the commissioner said, the system is in a state of disorder.

However, measures have already been taken to bring back order in the traffic sector, he added.

He urged city dwellers to rent homes near the institutions of their children or near their offices to reduce the use of private vehicles.