Specialised police unit for metro rail in the works

A separate specialised unit under Bangladesh Police is being formed to maintain the overall security of metro rail, passengers’ safety, as well as law and order.

It will be called the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Police or MRT Police. It will be an elite unit, and its members will have a different uniform.

Their uniform will be finalised after the unit is formed, said MAN Siddique, managing director of Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), which is implementing the metro rail project.

“There will be no separate police station for this unit. Its members will work like other special units, such as tourist police and armed police battalion.”

Personnel with a science background will mostly be chosen for this unit from the police force. Besides, they will be trained in metro rail operations and ICT, sources said.

The unit is now awaiting approval from the Secretary Committee on Administrative Development under the Cabinet Division.

There would be another approval from the prime minister for appointing Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) police officials to this unit, said Siddique.

Primarily, there will be a team of 357 police personnel for the MRT-6 line from Uttara to Kamalapur. A deputy inspector general (DIG) will lead this unit.

Under the DIG, the unit will have one additional DIG, a superintendent of police (SP), an additional SP, eight inspectors, six sub-inspectors, 51 assistant sub-inspectors, and other armed and unarmed members to carry out administrative and operational duties.

The Uttara-Agargaon part of MRT-6 is almost done and is scheduled to be inaugurated in December this year.

The MRT Police unit will be expanded once the other metro rail routes come into operation in the future.

The metro rail authorities have allocated offices and barracks for the unit in every station. The unit will guard the stations, depots, lines, and other establishments of metro rail round the clock.

The unit will also help passengers access different metro rail services, such as buying tickets. They will hand over offenders, such as those attempting to steal any metro rail property, to nearby police stations.

Police headquarters sources said the unit would provide security for thousands of passengers who would use the metro rail every day, as well as ATM booths and shops in the stations along with trains, lines, electrical equipment, etc.

The 21.26km MRT-6 line is being built at a cost of Tk 33,472 crore. Its Agargaon-Motijheel segment is expected to be completed by 2023.

The current overall progress of the Uttara-Agargaon segment is 94.22 per cent.

The metro rail is expected to carry 60,000 passengers from Uttara to Motijheel in less than an hour. It will charge passengers Tk 5 per kilometre and a minimum fare of Tk 20.