Around 7.68 lakh law enforcement personnel, including police, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and Ansar members, are receiving specialized training to ensure a free, fair, peaceful, and neutral parliamentary election scheduled for February next year.
Home Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury confirmed the development on Monday after attending a core committee meeting at the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Bangladesh Secretariat, reports BSS.
Of the total, approximately 1.5 lakh police officers are being trained to maintain flawless security during the polls. “The final phase of police training is expected to conclude by 15 January next year,” he added.
The Police Headquarters’ Human Rights Division has developed nine comprehensive training modules incorporating recommendations from election experts and legal professionals.
These modules aim to equip officers to handle any law-and-order challenges that may arise during the election period.
Bangladesh Police has been conducting the training at 130 smaller and four major training centers nationwide, following a structured course specifically designed for election duties.
Two documentaries – a 15-minute audiovisual feature and a nine-minute short film along with a training booklet, have been produced as part of the program.
The Home Adviser further noted that a total of 5.85 lakh Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP) members are undergoing election training.
Among them, 1.35 lakh Ansar personnel are trained with firearms, while 4.5 lakh are being trained without weapons. “With around 45,000 polling stations across the country, each center will have 13 Ansar-VDP personnel on duty,” he explained.
For the BGB, 33,000 personnel from 1,100 platoons will be deployed during the election. Jahangir said that 60% of their training has already been completed, with the remaining schedule to be wrapped up by December 31 this year.
Additionally, 80,000 members of the armed forces will serve as rapid response units to support a smooth and secure 13th parliamentary election, he added.
