A total of 252 trainee sub-inspectors (SIs) of the 40th Outside Cadet batch have been dismissed just a month before graduating from the Sarda Police Academy in Rajshahi.

The academy's principal sent discharge letters to the trainees at their home addresses on Monday morning, confirmed three senior officials of the academy and the Police Headquarters (PHQ).

The official reasons cited for their dismissal was "breach of discipline".

On Friday, the trainees were sent on a five-day vacation.

This correspondent spoke to four of the discharged trainees, all of whom claimed they had not breached any rules and were not aware of the reason behind their dismissal.

Sources said the PHQ, in consultation with the home ministry, conducted a background check on the political affiliations of 801 trainees in the batch. This check, undertaken by an intelligence agency, was conducted after the fall of the Awami League government on August 5.

"Based on the agency's reports, a list of 252 trainees was sent to the principal of Sarda Police Academy around 20 days ago," said an official seeking anonymity.

Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, adviser to the home ministry, yesterday said the 252 trainees were dismissed due to breach of discipline and that there were no political factors.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting of the advisory committee on law and order at the home ministry, he clarified that the decision was made by the Sarda Police Academy and that the home ministry was not involved in the process.

On October 8, the academy's administration issued show-cause letters to the 252 trainees, asking them to explain why they should not be discharged from the training programme for breaching discipline.

The Daily Star saw a copy of one such letter.

According to it, during a break in a practice session for the closing parade of the 40th BCS (Police) Probationers Batch on October 1, breakfast with a predetermined menu was served to all trainees.

"You [SIs] did not have the breakfast. You yelled and created a chaotic environment on the parade ground. You gathered other trainee cadet SIs and exhibited extreme disorder and insolence, humiliating the academy authorities. Furthermore, you left the training grounds for your barracks without permission," the letter reads.

It added that as trainee SIs, such behaviour constitutes a serious breach of discipline, which disrupted the overall training programme and also encouraged others to do the same.

The letter also directed the SIs to give an explanation to their authorities within three days on why they should not be discharged from the ongoing basic training as per the rules in the Police Regulations of Bengal, 1943.

An official, seeking anonymity, said that during the practice session, 66 probationer assistant superintendents of police were present along with the 400 trainee SIs.

The ASPs, at their own expense, added sweets in their breakfast menu, which reportedly caused dissatisfaction among the SIs.

A discharged trainee, preferring anonymity, said, "Everything was normal on October 1. There was no incident of breaching discipline. I had my breakfast and didn't leave the parade ground but I was still dismissed. I don't even know what food items were served to the ASPs."

Speaking to this correspondent, he and three other discharged trainees said they usually get an egg, chickpeas, puffed rice and sherbet for breakfast, and added that many of them refrain from eating the chickpeas and puffed rice for health reasons.

They claimed there was no shouting or dissatisfaction over the breakfast and that some of them sometimes go to the barrack during the break to use the washroom as there are insufficient facilities on the parade ground.

They also said that they were never told that leaving the ground during break was a breach of discipline.

All four of the dismissed trainees also claimed they were never involved in politics.

Meanwhile, Naim Ahmed, former principal of the academy and retired additional inspector general of police, said discipline is strictly maintained in the academy and there is no scope to breach it.

"The training is divided into physical and academic sessions and everything is prescheduled. If anyone is even one minute late for the training, that too is considered a breach of discipline," he told The Daily Star.

Naim, who was also former commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said the academy can discharge anyone who breaches discipline.

The trainee SIs can get an appointment letter from the academy and be attached to a police station only after successfully completing the training, he added. 

A total of 804 trainee SIs from 52 districts were recruited in the 40th Outside Cadet SI batch after they passed a physical endurance test, a 250-mark written test, and a 50-mark viva test.

Of them, three were earlier discharged on the grounds of moral turpitude.

Those who passed joined the Sarda Police Academy for a year-long basic training.

Earlier on Sunday, the government high-ups, in an unusual and abrupt move, postponed the graduation parade of 62 probationer ASPs, creating an uncertainty among many trainees regarding their futures in the service. 

The move came a day after Salauddin Ammar, a coordinator of the Rajshahi University unit of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, in a Facebook post alleged the 62 ASPs were recruited during the AL regime.