Bangladesh Police Practice SI Job Loss 2024 | “Breach of discipline”: 252 IS in internship dismissed one month before graduation

A total of 252 Trainee Sub-Inspectors (SIs) of the 40th batch of foreign cadets have been discharged just a month before they graduate from the Sarda Police Academy in Rajshahi.

The academy principal sent discharge letters to the students at their homes on Monday morning, three senior officials from the academy and the Police Headquarters (PHQ) confirmed.

The official reasons given for his dismissal were “disciplinary breach”.

On Friday, students were sent on a five-day vacation.

This correspondent spoke to four of the discharged students, all of whom claimed they had not broken any rules and were unaware of the reason for their dismissal.

Sources said the PHQ, in consultation with the home ministry, conducted a background check on the political affiliations of 801 trainees in the batch. This surveillance, carried out by an intelligence agency, was carried out after the fall of the Awami League government on August 5.

“According to the agency’s reports, a list of 252 students was sent to the director of the Sarda Police Academy about 20 days ago,” said an official on condition of anonymity.

Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, adviser to the home ministry, said yesterday that the 252 trainees were dismissed for breach of discipline and that there were no political factors involved.

Speaking to journalists after a meeting of the law and order advisory committee at the Ministry of the Interior, he clarified that the decision was taken by the Sardinian Police Academy and that the Ministry of the Interior did not participate in the process

On Oct. 8, the academy’s administration issued show-cause letters to the 252 trainees, asking them to explain why they should not be dismissed from the training program for violating discipline.

The Daily Star saw a copy of one of those letters.

According to him, during a break in a training session for the closing parade of the 40th Batch of BCS (Police) Probationers on October 1, a pre-set menu breakfast was served to all the trainees.

“You (IS) did not eat breakfast. You shouted and created a chaotic atmosphere in the gun yard. You gathered other IS cadets in training and showed extreme disorder and insolence, humiliating the academy authorities. Moreover , you left the training ground for your barracks without permission,” the letter reads.

He added that as a trainee SI, this behavior constitutes a serious breach of discipline, which disrupted the general training program and also encouraged others to do the same.

The letter also directed the SIs to give an explanation to their authorities within three days as to why they should not be discharged from the ongoing basic training under the rules of the Bengal Police Regulations, 1943.

An official, requesting anonymity, said that during the practice session, 66 probationary Assistant Superintendents of Police were present along with the 400 trainee SIs.

The ASPs, on their own, added sweets to their breakfast menu, which reportedly caused dissatisfaction among the SIs.

A discharged student, preferring anonymity, said: “Everything was normal on October 1. There was no incident of breach of discipline. I had breakfast and did not leave the playground weapons, but I was still fired. I don’t even know what food was served to the ASPs.”

Speaking to this correspondent, he and three other discharged students said they usually eat an egg, chickpeas, puffed rice and sorbet for breakfast, adding that many of them refrain from eating the chickpeas and puffed rice for health reasons.

They claimed that there was no shouting or dissatisfaction during breakfast and that some of them sometimes go to the hut during the break to use the toilet as there are not enough facilities in the gun yard.

They also said they were never told that leaving the floor during recess was a breach of discipline.

The four dismissed trainees also claimed that they were never involved in politics.

Meanwhile, Naim Ahmed, former director of the academy and retired additional inspector general of police, said that discipline is strictly maintained in the academy and there is no scope for breaching it.

“Training is divided into physical and academic sessions and everything is pre-scheduled. If someone is even a minute late to training, that too is considered a breach of discipline,” he told The Daily Star.

Naim, who was also a former commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said the academy can fire anyone who violates discipline.

Trainee SIs can get an appointment letter from the academy and be attached to a police station only after successfully completing the training, he added.

A total of 804 trainees from 52 districts were recruited into Foreign Cadet IS batch 40 after clearing a physical endurance test, a written test of 250 marks and a live test of 50 marks.

Of them, three were discharged earlier on grounds of moral turpitude.

Those who passed joined the Sarda Police Academy for a one-year basic training.

Earlier on Sunday, senior government officials, in an unusual and abrupt move, postponed the graduation parade of 62 parole ASPs, creating uncertainty among many trainees over their future in the service.

The move came a day after Salauddin Ammar, coordinator of the Rajshahi University unit of the Students Anti-Discrimination Movement, alleged in a Facebook post that the 62 ASPs were recruited during the AL regime.