No SSF protection, but extensive security measures planned for Tarique's arrival
DMP Additional Commissioner SN Nazrul Islam says both covert and overt security measures have been adopted.
Law enforcement agencies have put in place both covert and overt security measures ahead of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman's return to the country tomorrow (25 December), although sources say he will not receive Special Security Force protection.
The overall security plan has been structured into three zones: red, yellow and white.
Several meetings have already been held at the highest levels of government to ensure maximum security for Tarique, according to sources familiar with the matter.
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Multiple units of law enforcement agencies have conducted coordination meetings. Yesterday, several security coordination meetings were also held involving the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) and the BNP.
The security arrangement was divided into the three aforementioned zones based on these meetings.
Special security cards are being issued to those allowed to enter the red zone, and no one will be permitted entry without the card.
A separate card will also be required to access the yellow zone, and only cardholders will be allowed entry.
Areas outside these two zones will be designated as the white zone, where members of the general public will be allowed to enter.
On the day of Tarique's arrival, around 2,000 personnel from police and other agencies may be deployed.
Despite extensive preparations to ensure his security, sources said he will not be provided with SSF protection. The SSF provides protection to the president, prime minister and the chief adviser, as well as any person designated as a VVIP according to state protocol.
DMP Additional Commissioner SN Nazrul Islam said both covert and overt security measures have been adopted.
In addition to uniformed police, a sufficient number of plainclothes officers will also be deployed, he added, before confirming that SSF protection will not be provided.
The DMP officer said the security plan covers Dhaka airport, the route from the airport via Evercare Hospital – where Tarique's mother, BNP chief Khaleda Zia, is receiving treatment – to Gulshan and Tarique's residence.
Necessary instructions have been given to field-level officers, although final directives have yet to be issued, he added.
Explaining covert and overt security, Nazrul said it refers to visible uniformed security alongside discreet intelligence-based protection.
Police Headquarters sources said that since Khaleda and Tarique's residences in Gulshan are alongside each other, both houses, as well as Tarique's office, have been brought under the highest level of security planning.
The distance and movement routes between the residences and the office are being treated as highly sensitive, they added.
Special police surveillance has been in place since midnight yesterday, and security will be further tightened across all police station areas along the designated routes tomorrow, according to these sources.
Multiple checkpoints are to be set up. Usually, nine checkpoints operate in the Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara areas, with more than 150 police personnel deployed round the clock.
The number of checkpoints has been increased in view of Tarique's arrival, and security has also been reinforced around his residence.
