Dhaka:

Bangladeshi police resumed patrols of the capital Dhaka on Monday, ending a weeklong strike that left a law and order vacuum following the abrupt ouster of autocratic ex-premier Sheikh Hasina.

Officers vanished from the streets of the sprawling megacity of 20 million people last week after Hasina’s resignation and flight abroad ended her 15-year rule.

Police were loathed for spearheading a lethal crackdown on the weeks of protests that forced her departure, with 42 officers among the more than 450 people killed.

Police had vowed not to resume work until their safety on duty was guaranteed, but they agreed to return after late-night talks with the new interim government, helmed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

“The police association ended its strike last night,” the force’s national spokesperson Enamul Haque Sagor told AFP.

“Police officers have returned to work today,” he added. “You can see them managing traffic in Dhaka’s streets.”

‘Heinous attacks’

Student-led protests against Hasina’s government had been largely peaceful until police attempted to violently disperse them.

Around 450 of the country’s 600 police stations were targeted in arson and vandalism attacks over the past month, according to the national police union.

Some began reopening late last week under guard by the army, an institution held in higher esteem for largely refusing to participate in the crackdown.

In the police’s absence, the students who led the protests that toppled Hasina volunteered to restore law and order after looting and reprisal attacks in the hours after her departure.

They acted as traffic wardens, formed overnight neighbourhood watch patrols and guarded Hindu temples and other places of worship, quickly settling the unrest.

Yunus’s “council of advisors”, the de facto cabinet now administering the country, said it had noted with “grave concern” some attacks on Hindus and other minorities.

In its first official statement on Sunday night, the cabinet said it would work to “find ways to resolve such heinous attacks”.

Bangladeshi Hindus account for around eight percent of the country’s 170 million people and have regularly been the targets of violence during periods of upheaval.

Hundreds have arrived on India’s border since last week, asking to cross.

Hasina, 76, fled by helicopter to neighbouring India a week ago as protesters flooded Dhaka’s streets in a dramatic end to her iron-fisted tenure.

Her government was accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killing of thousands of her political opponents.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A student volunteer controls traffic, in the absence of traffic policemen on a street in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
| Photo Credit: AP

Students carried out traffic management as volunteers for the second consecutive day on Wednesday (August 7, 2024) in Bangladesh, as a top police official called on every member of the police force to resume their duties gradually and maintain law and order.

“Chaos reigned supreme in Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on Monday (August 5, 2024), with police absent from their duty to keep law and order or manage traffic,” local media reports said.

Additional Inspector General of Police (AIG) A. K. M. Shahidur Rahman, who was appointed as the focal person of the Bangladesh Police on Tuesday (August 6, 2024) to handle the current crisis, called on every member of the police force to resume their duties gradually and maintain public safety and law and order.

The students, including members of Bangladesh Scouts, were seen controlling the traffic movement at several places, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. 

“The police are friends of the people and work for the public. We cannot imagine a society without the police. Therefore, I request our police members once again to ignore rumours and return to their duties in a phased manner, ensuring that security arrangements are properly in place,” said Mr. Rahman, who has now been appointed as the Director General of RAB in a fresh reshuffle on Wednesday (August 7, 2024).

“There were reports of attacks on police stations and facilities across the country on Tuesday (August 6, 2024), resulting in numerous police casualties, which have led to this unprecedented situation,” the newspaper said.

The authorities reconstituted the top positions of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on Wednesday (August 7, 2024). “AKM Shahidur Rahman has been appointed as Director General of RAB while Md Mainul Hasan will replace Habibur Rahman as the commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police,” news portal Prothom Alo said.

The reshuffle comes hours after President Mohammed Shahabuddin appointed Nobel laureate Mohammad Yunus as the head of an interim government on Tuesday (August 6, 2024) night.

Attorney General Advocate Abu Mohammad Amin Uddin, who was appointed in October 2020, resigned on Wednesday (August 7, 2024).

Meanwhile, businesses on Wednesday (August 7, 2024) demanded immediate restoration of law and order to ensure the safety of their production units amid incidents of arson attacks on factories over the last two days.

They said they opened factories today, particularly the garment units, but many cannot run properly fearing unrest and vandalism, the Daily Star newspaper reported, citing a press conference by the International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICC-B).

“Six top officials of Bangladesh Bank including Deputy Governor Kazi Sayedur Rahman resigned as unrest erupted at Bangladesh Bank on Wednesday (August 7, 2024), the second day after offices reopened,” the Dhaka Tribune reported.

It said that more than a hundred officials of Bangladesh Bank stormed the bank governor’s office, forcing several deputy governors to leave the office claiming the duo was helping the bank looters.

Bodies of at least 29 supporters of Hasina’s Awami League party were recovered across the country through Tuesday (August 6, 2024), taking the overall death toll to 469 in almost three weeks since the protest first started in July over a quota system in government jobs.

Media reports also flagged more and more cases of violence against minorities surfacing through Tuesday (August 6, 2024), prominent among them being the massive vandalism and destruction at popular folk band Joler Gaan’s frontman Rahul Ananda’s residence on Monday (August 7, 2024) prompting the singer and his family to take shelter at a secret place.

The Daily Star quoted Saiful Islam Jarnal, one of Joler Gaan’s founding members who described that the mob after broking the main gate, started ravaging the house taking whatever they could find for themselves – from furniture, mirrors to valuables and then torched the whole house along with Rahul Anand’s over 3,000 musical instruments, which he designed and made over the years.

Kolkata:

A Bangladesh police team, which arrived here on Sunday afternoon, said they will seek cooperation from West Bengal CID and conduct a thorough probe into the murder of MP Anwarul Azim Anar.

The team expressed its desire to interrogate the arrested suspects and visit Baranagar, where Anar resided, along with speaking to the MP’s friend and the landlord of the house where he stayed.

Speaking to PTI anonymously, a senior state CID officer affirmed their readiness to assist the Bangladesh detectives in every possible way. He said all evidence gathered by the state CID regarding the case would be shared with them.

The search for the missing MP began when Gopal Biswas, a resident of Baranagar and an acquaintance of Anar, lodged a complaint with local police on May 18, stating that Anar, who arrived in Kolkata on May 12 for medical treatment, had gone missing.

According to Biswas, Anar left his residence in Baranagar for a doctor’s appointment on May 13, assuring that he would return home for dinner. However, he became unreachable on May 17, prompting Biswas to file a missing complaint the following day.

According to Kolkata Police, circumstantial evidence indicated that the MP was first strangled and killed after which his body was chopped into pieces and dumped in different areas. Traces of his body or body parts are yet to be found. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)