Police Headquarters has instructed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Special Branch (SB) and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) to immediately submit lists of honest, neutral and administratively efficient police inspectors for appointment as officers-in-charge (OCs) at police stations across the country ahead of the national election.

The directive, issued on November 16 by the Personnel Management–2 wing of PHQ, says that deploying “competent, impartial and professionally credible” police station chiefs is crucial to ensuring a peaceful and fair parliamentary election scheduled for February next year.

According to the circular, the law-and-order situation at the field level, especially during the election period, depends significantly on the effectiveness and neutrality of the OC.

The chiefs of police stations are identified as the primary point of command for enforcing Election Commission directives, preventing violence and responding to political tensions.

Previous elections have shown that the performance and neutrality of OCs can directly influence the credibility of overall security management.

With political activities intensifying nationwide, PHQ has prioritised the OC selection process.

Unit heads of the DMP, CID and SB have been asked to prepare and submit names of eligible inspectors currently serving under their commands who have clean service records, proven administrative capability and reputations for integrity.

A senior police officer, preferring not to be named, said the lists will be reviewed by a committee before final deployment orders for OC postings are issued.

The letter was signed by Additional DIG Abdullah Al Zahir of the Personnel Management–2 wing, who underscored the urgency of completing preparations as part of a coordinated security strategy for the national polls.

Another senior official at PHQ told UNB that the initiative is part of wider efforts to strengthen field-level policing, which include advance intelligence coordination, enhanced monitoring of vulnerable polling centres and special training modules for officers likely to be posted in high-risk constituencies.