Staff Reporter:
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said on Thursday that army personnel deployed across the country for law and order duties will be withdrawn gradually and sent back to their barracks.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting at the Secretariat, he said public confidence in the police had returned, making it possible to phase out the deployment of army personnel from field-level operations.
“The elected government has been able to restore the police force to an orderly state,” he said, adding that public trust in the police had also increased.
Salahuddin Ahmed said the government had taken an initiative to withdraw the army in phases, but the process would be worked out jointly by the police, the army and other relevant agencies.
According to sources, a decision has been taken to return all army personnel currently deployed in the field to their barracks by June.
The decision was reportedly taken at a core committee meeting on law and order held on Tuesday.
Under the decision, the final phase of withdrawal will begin on 6 June. Army personnel will first be withdrawn from remote districts, followed gradually by divisional cities and larger districts.
All army personnel deployed in field-level duties are expected to be withdrawn by the end of June.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, Dr Zahed Ur Rahman, adviser to the prime minister on information and broadcasting, said the army’s magistracy powers were no longer in force following the election.
He said the army was currently acting mainly as a striking force to support security operations.
Zahed Ur Rahman added that while the army had earlier been able to make arrests and take other legal steps on its own authority, it is no longer directly involved in such activities.
