ebr77
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2011
- Messages
- 885
- Reaction score
- 0
Police are meant to prevent crimes, nab criminals and extend cooperation to people in distress. But popular perception about them in some cases is otherwise. Rightly or wrongly, people tend to believe that a section of unscrupulous policemen overtly or covertly extend their helping hand to criminals or criminal activities. And such a belief either originates from their own real-life experience or events, including the bizarre ones, reported in the media from time to time. Instances are not rare where policemen concerned take sides with the oppressors or criminals instead of the victims for some pecuniary gains. In such cases of undue indulgence, criminals can easily get away with their crimes.
Direct and indirect involvement of a section of dishonest policemen in criminal acts like robbery, mugging and drug trade does often come to the light. But the recent unearthing of their participation in arms trade has come as a rude shock to all concerned, particularly the police high-ups. In two separate raids, police recovered 1600 rounds of ammunitions and pistols from the possession of four of their colleagues. One of the 'culprit'-policemen has reportedly confessed to the investigators that one single bullet fetches about Tk 1000 in the underworld market. But the questions that must be worrying the investigators are: (a) who are the buyers of the illegal arms and ammunitions? (b) for how long is this illegal arms trade going on? (c) how big is the arms trade network within the police? (d) are the illegal arms destined to the troubled Chittagong Hill Tracts? and (e) what is the source of the ammunitions?
What is more troubling is that one of the arrested policemen involved in arms trade, who was allegedly a former member of a now-defunct tribal insurgent group, was selling ammunitions to different armed groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. This again highlights the flaws in the recruitment of the police personnel. Allegations have it that individuals are being recruited in the police force without proper checking of their background. Bribe money and political considerations do also allegedly play a big role in the recruitment. With so many loopholes in the recruitment process and absence of a separate intelligence agency within the police to monitor and track down errant members of the force, the scope for indiscipline rises.
Moreover, the punishment meted out to police personnel found guilty of wrongdoing, in most cases, remains highly inadequate. Actions taken against errant police officials generally remain confined to two terms, 'withdrawn' and 'closed'. Those who are familiar with these types of punishments claim that police authorities tend to hoodwink the public, nothing else. But such a relaxed attitude to growing acts of indiscipline and involvement in criminal activities on the part of the police has only further undermined the public image of the police. There is no denying that most members of the police force tend to carry out their jobs diligently and dutifully and only a few get involved in criminal activities or demonstrate hostile attitude to the public. Yet the activities of the latter draw slur on the integrity of the entire police force. So, now the onus lies with the police authorities to show a tough attitude towards any policeman involved in wrongdoing and try to create a better image of the police as an institution in the society.
Financial Express :: Financial Newspaper of Bangladesh
Direct and indirect involvement of a section of dishonest policemen in criminal acts like robbery, mugging and drug trade does often come to the light. But the recent unearthing of their participation in arms trade has come as a rude shock to all concerned, particularly the police high-ups. In two separate raids, police recovered 1600 rounds of ammunitions and pistols from the possession of four of their colleagues. One of the 'culprit'-policemen has reportedly confessed to the investigators that one single bullet fetches about Tk 1000 in the underworld market. But the questions that must be worrying the investigators are: (a) who are the buyers of the illegal arms and ammunitions? (b) for how long is this illegal arms trade going on? (c) how big is the arms trade network within the police? (d) are the illegal arms destined to the troubled Chittagong Hill Tracts? and (e) what is the source of the ammunitions?
What is more troubling is that one of the arrested policemen involved in arms trade, who was allegedly a former member of a now-defunct tribal insurgent group, was selling ammunitions to different armed groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. This again highlights the flaws in the recruitment of the police personnel. Allegations have it that individuals are being recruited in the police force without proper checking of their background. Bribe money and political considerations do also allegedly play a big role in the recruitment. With so many loopholes in the recruitment process and absence of a separate intelligence agency within the police to monitor and track down errant members of the force, the scope for indiscipline rises.
Moreover, the punishment meted out to police personnel found guilty of wrongdoing, in most cases, remains highly inadequate. Actions taken against errant police officials generally remain confined to two terms, 'withdrawn' and 'closed'. Those who are familiar with these types of punishments claim that police authorities tend to hoodwink the public, nothing else. But such a relaxed attitude to growing acts of indiscipline and involvement in criminal activities on the part of the police has only further undermined the public image of the police. There is no denying that most members of the police force tend to carry out their jobs diligently and dutifully and only a few get involved in criminal activities or demonstrate hostile attitude to the public. Yet the activities of the latter draw slur on the integrity of the entire police force. So, now the onus lies with the police authorities to show a tough attitude towards any policeman involved in wrongdoing and try to create a better image of the police as an institution in the society.
Financial Express :: Financial Newspaper of Bangladesh
