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Download PDF Exhausting duty for long hours without the minimum amenities often makes the life of policemen miserable while a few met the tragic end of life during the last couple of years.
Police personnel, especially the low ranking ones, have to carry out duty for 14 hours a day, which may extend to even round the clock during situations like political programmes, said a policeman.
A large number of police from different parts of the country are brought to the capital and the divisional cities during programmes like hartal, siege and blockade. After overnight journey, they seldom get any scope of rest before going for such arduous duty.
Death of police Nayek Narayan Chandra Barman in heart attack during hartal hours yesterday added to quite a few such cases in the last couple of years.
ABM Sultan Ahmed, former officerin-charge (OC) of Kotwali Police Station, died of heart attack on February 3 last year while performing hartal duty at Patuatuli in the capital.
Former OC of Motijheel Police Station Mohiuddin Ahmed died of cardiac arrest on May 18, 2004 while another policeman met similar death at Mirpur the same year.
Made fragile due to work under inhuman condition, police personnel sometimes fail to cope with the minimum hassle.
On duty policemen do not even get the minimum facilities and time for defecation or urination. Often they are provided with mouldy foods during duty.
As it takes a long time to serve the foods from man to man in police vans, the food often gets rotten, said a policeman.
Those who are on VIP duties are the worst sufferers, said a police constable, who has to perform duty at the Mohammadpur residence of a judge.
“At around 12 midnight, we were ordered to get ready for Dhaka in half an hour. Reaching the capital in the morning we could just wash our face and have breakfast before starting the duty,” a police constable from the reserve force in Bogra told The Daily Star during a hartal on April 19.
“This is not a life. I may have to stay in Dhaka for a long time, but I could not provide any money or buy essentials for my family in Bogra as I had to come in a short notice,” said a visibly exhausted policeman whom this correspondent recently met in Old Dhaka.
He had to stay in the city for five days with around 30 other colleagues from Bogra as the opposition called another hartal four days later.
Many policemen had to lie in turns in Rajarbagh Police Lines barrack as there were not sufficient seats, several policemen said, adding that many others had to stay in the Rajarbagh Police Lines School, suspending classes for the students.
Meanwhile, four low ranking policemen committed suicide during the last six months.
Frustration resulting from heavy duty and poor salary has led to their suicide, said several policemen.
When asked for comment on the situation, Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) SM Mizanur Rahman said police always work for more than 12 hours.
“Sometimes they have to work for longer time when it is needed and we trained them up for this,” he said, adding, “I myself work 18 hours everyday.”
“It is Bangladesh and every policeman joined this service knowing everything,” said the DMP commissioner replying to a question on whether police in foreign countries work more than eight hours.
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