Special Police, RAB Units: Home considers risk allowance

The Police Headquarters has sought a special allowance, equivalent to the monthly basic salary, for the members of SWAT team of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit and bomb disposal units of Rab and CTTC, considering their risks they face during anti-militancy drives.

The headquarters sent a proposal to the home ministry in May. It said the special allowance would inspire the members of those units and help combat militancy.

The PHQ placed the proposal at a time when the bomb disposal unit of the CTTC under the Dhaka Metropolitan Police was finding it difficult to get skilled policemen.

A top official of the unit, requesting anonymity, told The Daily Star that the unit was now facing a manpower shortage as policemen were not interested in joining the unit.

"We are not even getting officers for sending them to training programmes,” said the official. There was a training programme on bomb disposal in Jordan on September 2, but no officers showed interest in going there even after repeated circulars were issued in this regard, he added.

The programme was later postponed.

Talking to this newspaper, several members of the bomb disposal unit claimed that they had to work round the clock during emergency situations.

Although the CTTC requires 50-56 members for its bomb disposal unit, there are only 18 members, said sources.

A high official working at the bomb disposal unit, seeking anonymity, told The Daily Star that if any officer was sent to the unit against his will, they would just pass time sitting idle.

Under these circumstances, some bomb disposal unit members said there should be some additional facilities for them as they were working risking their lives.

However, Proloy Kumar Joarder, deputy commissioner (special action group) of CTTC, said they had sufficient members for the bomb disposal unit and the SWAT team, and the members were working with sincerity.

He added that if the proposal of the special allowance was granted, it would definitely work as an inspiration for the officials.

According to the PHQ proposal, anti-militancy drives of CTTC's SWAT (Special Weapons And Tactics) team and bomb disposal unit and Rab's bomb disposal unit called Explosive Ordnance Disposal have earned both national and international acclamation, but their members have yet to get any incentive for their work.

The members are killed or injured while discharging their duty, reads the proposal.

The Daily Star has obtained a copy of the proposal.

In the proposal, it was mentioned that two police officials -- Rabiul Islam, assistant commissioner of DB, and Salauddin Khan, officer-in-charge of Banani Police Station -- were killed and 24 others, including eight SWAT members, seriously injured during the Gulshan café attack on July 1 last year.

Five members of CTTC's bomb disposal unit were critically wounded during an operation at “Neo JMB” Azimpur hideout on September 10 last year.

SWAT team and bomb disposal units of CTTC and Rapid Action Battalion conducted anti-militancy drives successfully in different militant hideouts across the country. In those operations, a number of militants of “Neo JMB”, including its commander Tamim Chowdhury, were killed, the proposal added.

According to media reports, around 70 militant suspects were killed during law enforcers' anti-militancy drives since the Gulshan café attack.

AKM Shahidur Rahman, deputy inspector general (finance) of PHQ, told The Daily Star that the proposal was now at the home ministry for approval. When the proposal would be approved, it would be sent to the finance ministry for approval, he added.

In the proposal, the PHQ says they need around Tk 7.023 crore to pay the allowance. Of the amount, Tk 4.24 crore is needed for CTTC and Tk 2.75 crore for Rab.

Asked, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told this correspondent that they were considering the proposal.