Police personnel on duty in Khulna have been instructed not to move alone at night to ensure their personal safety following an attack on a district police inspector by muggers.
The directive was issued in a letter signed by the Superintendent of Police (DSB), Khulna on Friday night.
Unit in-charges have been asked to take necessary measures to enforce the instruction.
Khulna Superintendent of Police Sarkar Omar Faruk confirmed the matter to TIMES, saying the initiative had been taken to ensure the safety and security of police personnel.
The directive came after police Inspector Md Shah Alam, who serves in the district police, was attacked by muggers in the West Rupsha area of Khulna city late on Thursday night.
Shah Alam was returning to the Police Club by rickshaw after crossing the Rupsha River ferry point. He had conducted an operation against illegal firearms in Rupsha upazila earlier that night. He was in plain clothes at the time of the incident.
In front of Collegiate Girls’ School, muggers attempted to snatch his mobile phone and money. When he resisted, the assailants hacked both his hands with machetes before fleeing the scene.
He was initially treated at the District Police Lines Hospital and was later sent to Dhaka for advanced treatment.
Following the incident, the District Special Branch (DSB) issued the directive on Friday.
The letter said special operations were underway in Rupsha, Terokhada, Dighalia and Batiaghata police station areas in response to the prevailing law and order situation and several recent incidents.
It also noted that attacks on law enforcement personnel by criminals had recently been reported.
“Considering the overall situation, police personnel deployed on special operations and other duties are hereby instructed to ensure their personal safety and refrain from moving alone at night,” the letter stated.
It added that unit in-charges would take the necessary measures to implement the directive.
