Two army camps will be established in the hilly areas of Rongikhali and Noakhalipara in Cox’s Bazar to prevent abductions and ransom-taking, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said on Thursday.
The camps will be established under the leadership of the 10th Infantry Division based in Ramu, he said.
The minister made the remarks while briefing journalists after two meetings held at the conference room of the Ministry of Home Affairs at Bangladesh Secretariat in Dhaka.
The meetings included the second meeting of the National Committee on Coordination, Management and Law and Order of Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMNs) and a meeting on improving the overall law and order situation in Jungle Salimpur, Chattogram.
The government has also decided to strengthen security and infrastructure at the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar.
The measures include rebuilding damaged barbed-wire fencing outside the camps, installing solar-powered lights and CCTV cameras, and constructing watchtowers and control towers.
Salahuddin said the decision to establish the two army camps was taken to prevent abduction and ransom-taking in the hilly areas, particularly Rongikhali and Noakhalipara.
Inside the camps, coordinated joint operations led by the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) will be strengthened to curb drug trafficking, online gambling, human trafficking and the activities of armed groups.
Around 400 sub-inspector-level officers serving in the APBn have been given legal authority to investigate cases, a move that the minister said would bring greater dynamism to crime prevention efforts.
However, in an emergency, provisions remain in place for strengthening security under the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), with a brigadier general of the Bangladesh Army leading operations as the representative of the armed forces.
Police academy planned at Jungle Salimpur
A police academy modelled on the academy in Sarda, Rajshahi, will be established at Jungle Salimpur in Chattogram, Salahuddin Ahmed said.
He said the government has taken an initiative to recover government-owned khas land in Jungle Salimpur and make the area free of terrorism.
A police academy will be established on around 300 acres of land, modelled on the Sarda police academy, while Chattogram Central Jail will be relocated to a 72-acre site there, he said.
The minister said priority was being given to rehabilitating the illegal residents of Jungle Salimpur and establishing systematic good governance on government land.
-Regarding the long-delayed repatriation of Rohingyas to Myanmar, Salahuddin expressed hope that the process could eventually advance under the leadership of the United Nations with support from the international community.
He acknowledged, however, that the Rohingya crisis was becoming increasingly complex and difficult to resolve.
On public confidence in the police, the Home Minister said gaining and retaining people’s trust remains one of the force’s key responsibilities and challenges.
Ultimately, he said, it is the people who will determine how much confidence the police have been able to earn.
The meeting was attended by the foreign minister, disaster management and relief minister, social welfare minister, Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC), representatives of the Armed Forces Division, and senior officials of law-enforcement agencies, including the police, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Coast Guard.
