BGMEA wants industrial police unit in Dhaka city

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has urged the government to establish an industrial police unit in the Dhaka metropolitan area to help maintain law and order and ensure an uninterrupted production in garment factories in the capital.

A delegation of the BGMEA, led by its acting president Syed Nazrul Islam, made the appeal during a meeting with Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan at his office on Sunday.

At present, there are eight industrial police units across the country. But, none of them is in the capital city, although the Industrial Police headquarters is located in the capital's Uttara. Garment factories are running in a number of areas in the capital including Uttarkhan, Dakshinkhan, Mirpur, Malibagh, Rampura, and Badda, with no specialised force to preserve law and order in these places considered important for the national economy, the business delegation said.

The delegation included BGMEA Senior Vice President SM Mannan, Vice President Md Nasir Uddin, and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association executive President Mohammad Hatem.

Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Khandker Golam Faruq, Industrial Police Chief and Additional Inspector General Mahabubor Rahman, and other senior officials of Bangladesh Police and the home ministry were also present at the meeting.

The association leaders urged the home minister to take necessary steps so that the garment workers can go home safely during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.

The home minister directed the inspector general of police to immediately look into the demand for an industrial police unit and assured the export sector of full-fledged cooperation.