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While the former police superiors and representatives of the donor agency decried the police department as outdated and non-transparent, the State Minister for Home Lutfuzzaman Babar lauded his men for their 'success' and maintaining transparency, reports BDNEWS.
Lutfuzzaman Babar made the observation while he was speaking as the chief guest at the workshop on "Police Reform" jointly organised by the United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP), British Department for International Development (DFID) and the Ministry of Home Affairs at a city hotel Thursday.
The workshop was addressed, among others, by Home Secretary Safar Raj Hossain, IGP Abdul Qaiyum, Resident Representative of UNDP, Bangladesh Larry Maramis, Senior Advisor to DFID Bangladesh Richard Miles, former IGP and National Coordinator of the project AYBI Siddique, Additional Home Secretary Mohammad Mohsin and Assistant Resident Representative and Team Leader of Governance Group, UNDP Nojibur Rahman.
Speaking on the occasion, Babar said: "Police and RAB have achieved a lot of success and I feel proud of them as they have controlled the radical problem of militancy and countrywide bombings."
The State Minister, however, said that more accountability of the police department is needed.
He said: "The problem in the police department can not be solved overnight and we have punished a number of policemen for their misdeeds."
Replying to questions at the sidelines of the workshop, the state minister brushed aside the allegations against the government of using the police politically.
IGP Abdul Qaiyum said despite having problems, police department is more transparent than other departments.
He said policemen work under various restrictions, including lack of resources support.
About the allegation of corruption against the police, Qaiyum said poverty is one of the motives for the nuisance. Moreover, most of the police persons have come from poor families.
The IGP also said that police are often forced by the powerful section to be corrupt, and both victims and accused also sometimes provoke them to compromise in lieu of money.
Terming the police department as corrupt and outdated, AYBI Siddique said, "The police personnel themselves are the victims of corruption during their appointments, joining and transfers."
The former IGP also mentioned various causes behind the corruption in police department, including poverty, lack of support and outdated system.
The donor representatives said that the Police Reform Programme project has been designed to improve the institutional capacity, efficiency and effectiveness of police by supporting key areas of access to justice.
It would also prompt crime prevention as a concept by improving investigations, police operations and prosecution, optimising human resource management and training, the representatives said.
According to sources, as part of the project, 11 model thanas would be established across the country.
Of the thanas, two would be established at Dhanmondi and Uttara in the city, while the others at Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Bhaluka in Mymensingh, Panchlaish in Chittagong, Patenga in Chittagong Metropolitan Police, Feni, Comilla, Chandpur and Kotwali in Jessore.
The project would work under three phases and the work on the model thanas would start from April next.
Meanwhile, 25 other model thanas would also be established under a separate project of the Japan government.
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