Eighteen police officers, including former Additional Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch (DB) Harun-or-Rashid, have been suspended for prolonged absence from duty.
The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification on Sunday, stating that the officers were “temporarily suspended on charges of absence from workplace.”
Among those suspended are three Deputy Inspectors General (DIGs), six Additional DIGs, four Superintendents of Police (SPs), four Additional SPs, and one Assistant SP.
The order said the suspensions were made under Rule 12(1) of the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2018, after the officers were accused of the punishable offence of “desertion” under Rule 3(g). During the suspension period, they will receive subsistence allowance.
The officers had been absent from duty since August last year following the fall of the previous government. Reports suggest that several of them have also left the country.
This is not the first such action. Earlier, a number of police officials were also dismissed for failing to report to their posts. Now, one year later, Harun—or “DB Harun,” as he is widely known—has officially been suspended along with 17 others.
