Bangladeshi youngsters recruited as part of a 9,000-strong private militia, formed under an initiative by Youth and Sports and Local Government, Rural Development, and Co-operatives Adviser Asif Mahmud Sojib Bhuiyan today took part in a “mobilisation drill” ahead of a four-day Awami League protest beginning November 10.
Bangladesh Police documents accessed Northeast News reveal a detailed “special security plan” aimed at deploying a mix of this auxiliary and law enforcement personnel to blunt the Awami League supporters who intend to hit the streets of Dhaka between November 10 and 13 ahead of the International Crimes Tribunal’s judgement against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Bangladesh security service sources said that hundreds of young men, raised as part of the auxiliary force under the instructions of Asif Mahmud Sojib Bhuiyan, will be “don” police uniform.
They have already taken position in many parts of Dhaka and standard issue DMP uniforms have been distributed to them.
This plan involves deploying a total of 6,829 personnel, including armed men, across nine sectors of Dhaka.
Each of the sectors have been divided into as many divisions (Ramna, Motijheel, Wari, Lalbagh, Tejgaon, Gulshan, Mirpur and Uttara) in which all the 49 police station areas of the city will be covered under the massive security blanket.
For effective response against the protestors, the total force will be divided into platoons which will be deployed in each of the police station areas.
A deputy commissioner and an assistant deputy commissioner will be in charge of a control room from where directives will be issued to officers heading the platoons and units on the ground.
The instructions will be issued over police wireless systems.
In the event of unlawful activities and violent incidents, the officers in charge of the control room will immediately transmit the information to deputy commissioners, assistant deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners and officers-in-charge of police stations.
While the control room will obtain hourly information which will be shared with senior officers at police headquarters, “most important” inputs will be shared with Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner, additional police commissioner and other officers heading crime and operations units.
All ‘police’ personnel that will be deployed on the four days will be in riot gear and raincoats and they will carry portable wireless receivers.
The DMP commissioner, additional commissioners and joint commissioners will be kept informed of all intelligence inputs from key locations across Dhaka.
Designated officers and other ‘policemen’ on duty will carry a range of firearms and ammunition, the nine-page Bangladesh Police document issued on November 7 says.
Police vehicles will be on standby to transport ‘policemen’ who sustain injuries in the event of eruption of violence between November 10 and 13.
“In order to have operational success, there must be complete coordination between officers and the force”, the document says, adding that collaboration must be the objective among commanders at the ground level.
