Cabinet has granted final approval to the draft “Special Response Battalion (SRB) Act, 2026”, marking a definitive step towards the dissolution of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
The draft legislation will now proceed to the Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division for vetting. Following this process, it will be introduced as a bill in Parliament, where it must be passed to officially become law.
According to the Home Affairs Ministry, the most significant feature of the new law is the total abolition of RAB and the formation of a specialised unit titled Special Response Battalion (SRB) under the Police Department.
To address long-standing concerns, the Act includes provisions for a multilateral complaint redressal committee aimed at settling citizen grievances and internal disputes among unit members.
Under the proposed legal framework, SRB officers will be empowered to exercise the authority of an investigating officer as per the Code of Criminal Procedure regarding searches, detentions, seizures, and arrests.
RAB was originally established in 2004 as a special police force during the tenure of the Khaleda Zia-led government. Since its inception, the force has been mired in controversy, facing continuous allegations of extrajudicial killings conducted under the guise of “crossfires.”
These allegations escalated during the Awami League administration, culminating in the United States imposing sanctions on the force and several of its former and current high-ranking officials following the killing of Ekramul Haque in Cox’s Bazar.
The demand for the force’s dissolution intensified in December 2024, following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government. At that time, a police administration reform committee formed by the BNP formally called for the abolition of RAB during an official press conference.
