Police seek separate lane at fuel pumps

Police personnel are suffering due to the fuel crisis and long queues at pumps, which is hampering their regular duties. In light of this situation, the Bangladesh Police Association has demanded separate lanes for police at fuel pumps.

According to the organisation, introducing separate lanes would speed up emergency operations, patrol activities and law enforcement work, thereby making public service more effective.

The demand was made in a letter sent to Police Chief IGP Md Ali Hossain Fakir on Friday, April 17. The letter was signed by Association President Kamrul Hasan Talukdar and General Secretary Monirul Haque Bhablu.

The letter stated that police are performing duties as one of the most important emergency service providers in the state, including maintaining law and order, ensuring public safety, crime suppression, case investigation, arresting suspects, conducting emergency operations, VIP security, traffic management, disaster assistance and providing 24/7 uninterrupted public service.

In reality, most police personnel need to travel immediately to various locations using personal motorcycles, government vehicles and requisitioned vehicles while performing official duties. However, police personnel are currently having to stand in long queues with the general public at various fuel pumps across the country, waiting for hours to collect fuel. As a result, a significant portion of police personnel's valuable working hours are being wasted waiting at pumps, disrupting emergency service operations.

The letter further stated that delays are occurring in many important duties, including operations to arrest suspects, emergency patrols, rapid attendance at crime scenes for case investigations, and swift response at disaster and accident sites. In many cases, when police personnel go outside the queue to collect fuel in emergencies, they are facing unpleasant situations, public discontent and even fines from mobile courts, which is highly regrettable and undesirable.

The Bangladesh Police Association requested the IGP's kind intervention and effective directives to make necessary arrangements for supplying fuel on a priority basis through separate lanes or special booths at all government or private fuel pumps across the country upon production of official identification cards of on-duty police personnel, in the public interest and for the sake of performing their emergency duties.