Officers of the navy and the air force have also been given magistracy powers, two weeks after it was granted exclusively to army officers with immediate effect for 60 days.

As such, magistracy powers can now be exercised by officers in all three services with the rank of captains and above.

Multiple senior officials at the Ministry of Public Administration confirmed the development to The Daily Star last night.

An officer with magistracy power can arrest people and put them in custody. In self-defence and extreme need, the officer can open fire, said an adviser to the interim government.

Earlier, on September 17, the Ministry of Public Administration issued a notification granting magistracy powers to commissioned officers of the army with the rank of captain and above.

To improve the current law and order situation, army officers were initially granted magistracy powers.

However, according to an additional secretary that order was amended yesterday to extend these powers to officers of the "armed forces," which also includes the navy and air force.

When asked, Public Relations Officer of the public administration ministry, Md Mansur Hossen, also confirmed that the word "armed forces" has been added replacing "army" to the previously issued notification from September 17.

No new notification was issued; instead, the original one was modified under the same reference number and date.