A police officer has been brutally attacked in Khulna, prompting authorities to warn police personnel on Friday against travelling alone at night, in a stark indication that even those tasked with protecting the public are not being spared by criminals.
As a spate of murders, extortion, snatching and other crimes fuels growing public fear across the country, the warning has raised fresh concerns about the deteriorating law-and-order situation and the safety of ordinary citizens.
If police personnel themselves are vulnerable to attacks, how safe can the public feel?
Civil society representatives say the Khulna police’s warning is hardly surprising given the increase in crime across the country. The reality, they say, is alarming.
“The police are supposed to protect the people, not the other way around,” Qudrat-e-Khuda, general secretary of the Khulna district unit of Citizens for Good Governance (SUJON), told TIMES, adding that the warning had brought the actual law-and-order situation in Khulna into sharp focus.
Tanvir Ahmed Sajal, a young businessman in the district, remarked sarcastically that the problem might be solved if a new force were formed to protect the police.
Amid a rise in murders, snatching, extortion and other crimes, police launched special operations in four upazilas of Khulna on 7 October.
However, local residents said killings continued despite the operations to arrest criminals. Extortion and drug trafficking were also thriving, while almost daily incidents of murder, extortion and snatching had heightened public anxiety.
Asked about the situation, Khulna Superintendent of Police (SP) Sarker Omar Faruk told the TIMES on Saturday afternoon that a police inspector had been seriously injured in an attack while returning home in the early hours of the morning.
Police personnel had been warned to remain vigilant against muggers, he said. An instruction was issued on Friday prohibiting officers in plain clothes from travelling alone at night.
The directive stated that special operations were under way in Rupsa, Terokhada, Dighalia and Batiaghata police station areas.
“In view of recent attacks on law enforcement personnel, ensuring their personal safety has become essential. Unit heads have therefore been strictly instructed to ensure that police personnel do not travel alone at night while conducting special operations or performing other duties.”
Meanwhile, the directive from the district police chief has sparked widespread discussion and criticism across Khulna, with questions raised on social media about the police’s capabilities.
Inspector’s finger severed
According to sources, police inspector Shah Alam, 34, was seriously injured in a machete attack in front of Khulna Collegiate School on Khan Jahan Ali Road in the city at around 2:30am on Friday.
Following the attack by muggers, he was initially taken to Khulna Medical College Hospital in critical condition.
He was subsequently transferred to the Central Police Hospital in Rajarbagh, Dhaka, and the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases before being admitted to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), commonly known as Dhaka Pangu Hospital.
He is now receiving treatment at Evercare Hospital.
The SP said one of Shah Alam’s fingers was severed in the machete attack after he refused to hand over his mobile phone.
Shah Alam was returning to his home in the city by auto-rickshaw after a special operation at Rupsa Police Station when muggers attacked him with sharp weapons, the SP said. He was in plain clothes at the time.
Following the incident, district police imposed restrictions on officers travelling alone at night for their personal safety.
The SP said many district police personnel returned to their homes in Khulna city in plain clothes after completing their night shifts.
Asked whether the ongoing operations would be affected by the attack, the SP said: “We are arresting criminals regularly.”
Khulna Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Lokman Hossain Ripon said a case had been filed over the attack on the police inspector and one suspect had been arrested.
Earlier, on 7 October, the SP told journalists at an exchange-of-views meeting that special operations were under way in four upazilas of Khulna.
He said visible improvements had been observed over the preceding seven days. The attack on a police officer, however, came amid the ongoing operations.
“I return home from the office at 9pm or 10pm, and sometimes much later. Where is our security if the police themselves say they are unsafe?” asked Rifat Islam, an office worker in Khulna.
Businessman Kazi Aman said he often closed his shop late at night before returning home and had been gripped by fear since learning of the incident.
Crimes reported almost daily
On 4 October, a leader of the Purba Banglar Communist Party was killed in Rupsa, while criminals hacked and injured a man in Labanchara on the same day.
The following day, a father was murdered in Rupsa, 51 days after his son had been killed.
On 7 October, criminals shot and injured a young man in Daulatpur.
On Saturday afternoon, another person was injured in a shooting in Kashimnagar, Khulna.
These incidents illustrate the volatile law-and-order situation in the southern district.
However, the problem is not confined to Khulna. Murders, extortion, snatching and other crimes continue to be reported in districts across the country, despite government and police measures to curb them.
The continuing incidents have left people increasingly fearful.
