Khulna police ban police officers from travelling alone at night

Khulna district police have prohibited officers from travelling alone at night after a machete attack left a police inspector seriously injured, introducing the precautionary measure to protect personnel on special operations and other duties amid mounting concern over recent assaults on law enforcers.

The directive was issued in an official letter signed by the superintendent of police of the District Special Branch (DSB) on Friday night (October 9) and circulated to the relevant units and stations, instructing unit heads and station chiefs to ensure that no officer travels alone at night, whether returning from duty or heading anywhere for personal or official reasons. The decision followed an assault on Inspector Md Shah Alam, 43, of Khulna District Police, who was returning home by rickshaw after a special operation in Rupsa on Thursday night. Around 2:30 am on Friday, three alleged muggers intercepted his rickshaw in front of Khulna Collegiate Girls’ School on Khan Jahan Ali Road and tried to rob him; when he resisted, they allegedly struck both his wrists repeatedly with a machete. Colleagues rescued him and rushed him to a local hospital, whence he was transferred to Dhaka for advanced treatment, where he remains.

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Khulna Superintendent of Police Omar Faruk said the attack had raised grave concerns about officers’ safety while returning from duty. Nevertheless, he characterised the restriction as an internal administrative measure designed to protect personnel rather than a sign of broader insecurity within the force. Police have recently been conducting special operations in Rupsa, Terokhada, Dighalia and Batiaghata in response to a spate of violent incidents, including the fatal shooting of Joy Dhali’s father, Akhtar Dhali, and another man at a tea stall in Dighalia. Consequently, the latest order has been circulated to senior officials, detective units, traffic police, police lines and other departments concerned.