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Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed on Thursday told Parliament that the country’s law-and-order situation has visibly improved, with law enforcement agencies arresting suspects and bringing them under the law within 24 to 48 hours of crimes being committed.
“The improvement in the law-and-order situation is visible in Bangladesh. Since the present government took charge, whenever a crime has occurred, the perpetrators have been arrested and brought under the law within 24 to 48 hours or even less time,” he said.
The minister made the remarks while responding to a supplementary question from National Citizen Party (NCP) lawmaker Md Abul Hasnat of Cumilla-4.
Addressing concerns over the law-and-order situation, Salahuddin said police and other law enforcement agencies had made prompt arrests in several cases that attracted significant public attention.
“From the Ramisa case to the four recent murders in Rangpur, the police and other law enforcement agencies have been able to arrest the suspects within the shortest possible time and bring them under the law,” he said.
He rejected broad allegations that the Home Ministry or law enforcement agencies had failed to maintain law and order, saying such claims should be supported by specific incidents and verifiable information.
“If you can point to any specific incident where the ministry or the law enforcement agencies have failed, we can give a detailed response to that particular incident,” Salahuddin said.
He also questioned the basis of crime statistics cited by the lawmaker, stressing that figures presented in Parliament should include their sources and methodology.
The minister recalled that the government had previously placed detailed crime statistics before Parliament, including through statements under Rule 300, covering various categories of criminal activity.
Responding to another supplementary question about the number of firearms and the recovery of weapons looted from different locations, Salahuddin said a committee comprising representatives of all relevant law enforcement agencies had been formed to recover the weapons.
He said law enforcement agencies were regularly recovering looted firearms and checking their serial numbers to identify them.
“We are continuously recovering weapons, including some of the looted firearms. We match their numbers and inform the media when such weapons are recovered,” he said.
Salahuddin expressed hope that all looted weapons, including those taken from prisons and other locations, would eventually be recovered.
Regarding allegations of political or partisan considerations in police recruitment during the previous government, the minister said an investigation was nearing completion.
Investigators had found irregularities involving the recruitment of thousands of police constables and personnel of other ranks in several districts, he said.
In some cases, applicants allegedly changed their addresses to become eligible for recruitment in particular districts, including by purchasing small plots of land and using those addresses as their permanent or village addresses.
Salahuddin said Faridpur, Gopalganj, Madaripur, Shariatpur and Kishoreganj were among the districts where such irregularities had allegedly occurred.
“We have reached an advanced stage in the investigation. Once it is finalised, we will make the findings public before the nation,” he said.