Police accountable to many: Outgoing IGP

Outgoing Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed has said that the police department is accountable to many institutions including the county’s constitution, courts, civil society and society as a whole.

He said this while giving his farewell speech before a contingent of senior police officials at Rajarbag Police Line in Dhaka on Thursday.

It is one of the major aspects that if there is any allegation against a policeman of violating human rights, they will be held accountable to the constitution, courts, civil society and society as a whole, he said.

Bangladesh is the only country that has a number of human rights laws unlike many other countries in the world, he added.

“The country’s constitution has given the maximum (rights) to the people. So, I think that the human rights-related laws that exist in our country is rare in other countries of the world,” he said, terming the constitution as the main foundation of law.

He said policemen are given firearms only to use for saving their lives during their duties.

Alleged homicides by police took place at different places and the matters must be investigated whether the incidents were right or wrong, said Benazir.

About the killing of Teknaf Municipality Councillor Akramul Haque, he said the incident did not take place according to his personal capacity, rather by the on-duty field-level officers.

“It is a legal matter. There is no scope to express my personal opinion until it is proved as unjust or immoral,” he noted.

He further said there is no personal dispute with the gentleman [Akramul] who was killed in the incident. “Many of us have tried to establish the incident as a personal matter.”