OCs for 527 police stations finalised through lottery

The Police Headquarters has announced that officers-in-charge (OCs) for 527 police stations across the country have been finalised through a lottery ahead of the election schedule.

The initiative was jointly undertaken by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Police Headquarters to ensure impartial deployment of police officials responsible for maintaining law and order during the election period.

Earlier, the Police Headquarters had asked unit chiefs to submit lists of honest and neutral inspectors eligible for OC positions. Officials said the final list of 527 OCs was selected from those names through a transparent lottery.

However, the process did not include any police stations in metropolitan areas.

In the Dhaka range, a total of 98 OCs have been assigned across its 13 districts. In the Chattogram Range, which covers 11 districts, 111 OCs have been posted -- the highest among all ranges.

Meanwhile, the Khulna range has received 64 OCs for its 10 districts, and the Mymensingh range has been allocated 36 OCs across 4 districts.

The Barishal range will have 46 OCs serving in its 6 districts, while the Sylhet range has been assigned 39 OCs across 4 districts.

SPs of 64 districts finalised through lottery

In northern Bangladesh, the Rajshahi range sees 71 OC postings for its 8 districts, and the Rangpur range gets 62 OCs, also distributed across 8 districts.

According to headquarters sources, Bangladesh has 639 police stations in total -- 527 in district areas and 110 in metropolitan areas. The lottery process applied only to district-level stations. Metropolitan commissioners will handle postings for the remaining 110 stations internally.

Earlier, on 26 November, the home ministry issued a circular appointing 64 district police superintendents (SPs) through lottery.