Police
CRAB denounces police’s misconduct with journo
The Crime Reporters Association of Bangladesh (CRAB) on Thursday denounced the incident of a police officer's misconduct with a journalist while performing duty.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Hayatul Islam of Motijheel Division of Police has been uncooperative and discourteous with Mahbub Momtazi, a member of CRAB and Staff Reporter of Bangladesh Pratidin, according to a press release.
Read more: CRAB expresses concern over a series of mugging incident
CRAB president Mirza Mehdi Tamal and general secretary Mamunur Rashid along with the leaders of the executive committee strongly condemned the behavior of the police officer.
Besides, the leaders requested to strengthen the cordial relationship between the police and the crime reporters.
They also demanded a divisional step against the officer after investigation.
Man stabs passengers on German train; 2 dead, 5 injured
A man fatally stabbed two people and injured five others on a train in northern Germany on Wednesday before being arrested, police said.
Germany's Federal Police force said the man used a knife to attack several passengers shortly before a regional train traveling from Kiel to Hamburg arrived at the Brokstedt station.
Police spokesman Juergen Henningsen from the nearby city of Flensburg said two of the stabbed people died after the attack. Three people were severely injured and two others suffered minor injuries. No details were given about the identity of the victims.
The attacker was also injured and taken to the hospital, police said.
Read more: Son of former German president stabbed to death in Berlin
Police did not provide any information on the suspect’s identity and said his possible motives were under investigation. They said they were first alerted to the incident shortly before 3 p.m. when several passengers on the train made emergency calls to police.
The interior minister of Schleswig-Holstein state, Sabine Suetterlin-Waack, voiced shock at the attack..
“It is terrible,” Suetterlin-Waack told German public broadcaster NDR. “We are shocked and horrified that something like this has happened.”
Regional police and the federal police were on the scene and the prosecutor’s office was investigating the attack, NDR reported.
The train station in Brokstedt was closed for several hours and train traffic was delayed across northern Germany.
Train operator Deutsche Bahn expressed its condolences on Wednesday evening saying that “our deepest sympathy goes to the relatives of the victims. We wish those injured a speedy and complete recovery.”
Six senior police officers get promotions
The government has promoted four senior police officers to the rank of additional inspector general of police (IGP).
Also, two additional IGPs got promotions to Grade-1 officers on the same day.
The Public Security Division of the home ministry Wednesday issued notifications regarding the latest promotions.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Headquarters Jamil Ahmad, DIG of Police Staff College Md Humayun Kabir, DIG of Police Headquarters YM Belalur Rahman and Additional Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Mir Rezaul Alam were promoted to the rank of additional IGP.
Read more: 7 police officers promoted to additional IGP
Also, Additional IGP of Police Headquarters Md Kamrul Ahsan and Additional IGP of Special Branch Md Monirul Islam got promotions to Grade-1 officers.
It's not necessary to use visa broker to apply for US visa: Embassy
In coordination with the U.S. Embassy, Bangladesh police have arrested six individuals who were selling fraudulent entry and exit stamps to U.S. visa applicants.
U.S. visa applicants are responsible for the information they provide on visa application forms and for any documents they provide at the interview.
The best guidance for prospective visa applicants is to review information on the U.S.
Embassy website, be prepared for their interview with any supporting documentation, and provide factual and truthful answers during the visa process and interviews, said the US Embassy in Dhaka in a media statement on Friday.
Read more: US Embassy to host university fairs in Dhaka, Chattogram
It is not necessary to use a visa broker to apply for a U.S. visa, Embassy Spokesperson Jeff Ridenour said.
U.S. visa applicants are encouraged to complete their own applications online, as all the information needed to make an application can be found on our website.
"We also caution prospective applicants that presenting false information and documents may not only result in a visa denial but may also result in an ineligibility that prevents future travel to the United States," reads the statement.
Police: 8 people shot, 1 critical at Florida MLK Day event
Police in Florida said eight people were shot during an Martin Luther King Jr. Day event, with one of the victims listed in critical condition.
The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office confirmed all the victims in the Monday shooting in Fort Pierce were adults, WPBF-TV reported.
The shooting occurred at Ilous Ellis Park at 5:20 p.m. during an MLK Car Show and Family Fun Day, which the sheriff’s office said was attended by more than 1,000 people, the TV station reported.
“Multiple people were shot, it sounds like from our initial investigation here on scene there was a disagreement of some sort between two parties, and unfortunately, they chose to resolve that with guns,” St. Lucie County Chief Deputy Brian Hester said.
Police said four people including a child sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the ensuing confusion, the station reported.
“It was mass chaos, as you can imagine, when shots rang out,” Hester said. “There were a thousand plus people here at the event, and as the shots rang out, people were just running in all directions.”
Read more: 9 killed in Walmart shooting in Virginia
The sheriff’s office said two deputies at the event responded immediately and aided victims, WPBF-TV reported.
Video obtained by the station showed people ducking, running and hiding behind cars, including a woman running to safety while holding a baby.
“It’s really sad in a celebration of someone who represented peace and equality that a disagreement results in a use of guns and violence to solve that disagreement, and that’s what’s really sad to me about what happened here,” Hester said. “And then so many innocent people who were injured or hurt and were not part of the disagreement as well.”
BNP-police clash leaves 12 injured in Chattogram
At least 12 people, including 5 cops, were injured as the activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and police locked in a clash in the Kazir Dewri area of Chattogram on Monday.
BNP's Chattogram unit arranged a protest rally in front of the party office at Nasiman Bhaban on Monday to press home its 10-point demand and to protest electricity price hike.
When BNP leaders and activists were going to join the rally around 3:30pm, police charged with batons to disperse them, triggering the clash, said Idris Ali, former organising secretary of Chattogram unit BNP.
At least 7-8 BNP activists were injured as police baton-charged and fired shots, said the BNP leader.
Read more: Police-BNP clash: Ctg BNP convener, 74 others sued
However, Mostafizur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (South), said that police made arrangements for a peaceful rally but the BNP men attacked the police, leaving 5 policemen injured.
The BNP activists also set a police motorcycle on fire and vandalised several shops in the area during the clash, he added.
Later, additional police force rushed to the spot and fired tear gas shells to bring the situation under control.
Read more: Police sue 50 BNP activists over Thursday's clash in Rangpur; 4 arrested
So far 20 people have been arrested, added the officer.
Protesters in Cambridge demand justice for Bangladeshi-American shot by police
Expressing anger and frustration, several hundred protesters on Monday (January 09, 2023) demanded justice for a Bangladeshi American college student who was shot and killed by police in the Boston suburb of Cambridge last week, a shooting that has drawn attention from Bangladeshi media.
Sayed Faisal, 20, a student at the University of Massachusetts Boston, was shot on January 4 while advancing on officers with what police described as a kukri and after a less-than-lethal “sponge round” failed to stop him, authorities have said. A kukri is a short sword with an angled blade that originated in South Asia.
Protesters at the rally outside Cambridge City Hall organized by the Bangladesh Association of New England held signs saying “Justice for Faisal” and “Faisal needed help not bullets,” while his friends and teachers remembered his friendliness, his positive outlook and his intelligence.
An independent judicial inquest into the shooting has been initiated. The findings of that inquest will be forwarded to the Middlesex district attorney’s office to decide whether charges are warranted, a process that could take a year or more.
Read More: Killing of Bangladeshi-American in US: Human chain in front of MoFA demands justice
Faisal, who was known as Prince by his family, was an only child who was never violent and had never been involved with law enforcement before, his parents said in a statement released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
“We are completely devastated and in disbelief that our son is gone,” the Cambridge residents said. “Prince was the most wonderful, loving, caring, generous, supportive, and deeply family-oriented person. He loved to travel, create art, and play sports with his friends.”
Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, City Manager Yi-An Huang, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, and Cambridge Police Commissioner Christine Elow are all expected to attend a community meeting on Thursday to discuss the shooting and answer questions from the public.
The City Council has also scheduled a special meeting on Jan. 18 to discuss protocols, processes, and training of city police.
Read More: Momen slams Bangladeshi expat's killing in US, denounces hate crime
Authorities have not released the name of the officer who opened fire. The officer, who is on paid administrative leave, is a seven-year department veteran who has never been the subject of a citizen’s complaint, police spokesperson Jeremy Warnick said Monday.
According to the preliminary investigation, police received a 911 call early last Wednesday afternoon from a resident who reported seeing a man jumping out of an apartment window with a machete which he appeared to be using to cut himself.
Officers and paramedics found the man, identified as Faisal, bleeding in an alley.
Faisal saw police, who requested that he drop the weapon, and ran for several blocks.
Read More: We support calls for “thorough, transparent investigation” over Bangladeshi-American student's death: US Embassy
He then reportedly moved toward the police while still holding the weapon, even when they fired a less-than-lethal round at him. He continued to advance and one officer fired a gun, striking Faisal, who later died at a hospital, authorities said.
Police cordon off ‘militant den’ in Sunamganj
Sunamganj, Jan 8 (UNB) - Police cordoned off a house at Fechi Atghar in Jagannathpur upazila of Sunamganj district on Sunday, suspecting it to be a militant hideout.
Subhasish Dhar, additional superintendent of Sunamganj (Jagannathpur circle) police, said a team of police cordoned off the house Sunday morning on an information that there are a huge quantity of illegal firearms and bombs in the abandoned house.
Also Read: 6 ‘Al Qaeda-inspired militants’ arrested in city
The owner of the house is a resident of Sylhet city, he said.
A bomb disposal unit went to the spot.
Consider police stations as 'service delivery centres' to provide better service: IGP
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun has asked policemen to consider police stations as "service delivery centres" to improve service delivery.
He was speaking at the "Police Week 2023" at the Rajarbagh Police Lines Parade Ground in the capital on Thursday.
"We will have to make sure that people from all walks of life get the services they need. Also, we will have to gradually improve the quality of service delivery at police stations considering them service delivery centres."
"Everyone is now praising the transparency in recruitment, posting, and promotion processes of Bangladesh Police. I would urge everyone to maintain this transparency in all areas."
Read more: Police implementing PM's zero tolerance policy against militancy firmly: IGP
PM Hasina asks police to firmly deal with destructive acts
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday asked the police officials to take proper action against any destructive activity for the sake of the continuation of the country’s uninterrupted economic progress.
"(Stay alert) so that none could interrupt our economic progress in future and none could dare to carry out arson violence anymore and none could interrupt the overall security of the lives of the people,” she said.
The premier was addressing a meeting with the high officials of Bangladesh Police, held at her office on the seccond day of the Police Week-2023.
Pointing to opposition BNP she said “Yes, they can do movement. It is ok. It can be done taking the people with them. If any destructive activity is carried out there, all will have to take proper action against it,” she said.
She said Bangladesh needs to face different problems induced by the global crisis, natural calamities and man-made disasters like arson violence and other destructive activities.
Hasina said law and order is the most important issue for a country. “So, the police will have to carry out their responsibility to keep the law and order under control,” she added.
She said that today’s progress in Bangladesh has not come automatically. Rather her government had to work hard and take many plans. So, the government has been able to bring a massive change to the country within only 14 years, she added.
Also Read: Pay production cost to get smooth supply of gas, electricity: PM Hasina tells industries
The PM said her government has successfully tackled the Covid-19 pandemic, kept the wheels of the country’s economy towards the positive direction with firm policies and continued the progress of Bangladesh. “We’ve successfully been able to perform these tough jobs,” she said, adding that Bangladesh is getting acclamation from the entire world in this regard.
The premier extended her thanks to the police as the force has also made contributions to this success, particularly in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
She again asked the police to be careful so that none can interrupt this progress. “There might be many things –anyone belongs to any party, opinion and creed, but you will have to pay a special attention so that none can destroy or obstruct any work and interrupt our ongoing progress in any sector for the sake of the interest and development of the country and the welfare of the people.”
Read more: Foreign observers are welcome during next general election: PM Hasina tells British MPs
The PM once again said her government formulated the Perspective Plan 2021-2041 and targeted to make the country as Smart Bangladesh by 2041 through equipping the people with technology and latest knowledge. “We’ll build the country as a developed, prosperous sonar Bangladesh,” she said.
She said police have played a significant role in the development journey of Bangladesh as the law enforcement agency curbed many manmade disasters and militancy and thus helped continue the country’s progress.
“If the law and order is maintained properly, the country will surely go further towards development and we will be able to reach our desired goals,” she said.
Hasina asked all the members of Bangladesh Police to work sincerely in maintaining the law and order and finally help fulfill the target of building a Smart Bangladesh.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and Public Security Division Senior Secretary Aminul Islam Khan spoke on the occasion, while Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun delivered the welcome address and Additional IGP Kamrul Hasan gave vote of thanks.
The premier also heard some high police officials as RAB Director General M Khurshid Hossain, Deputy Inspector Generals (DIGs) Anwar Hossain and Abdul Baten Amena Begum, Superintendent of Police of Jashore Praloy Kumar Joaddar, among others, spoke on the occasion.