APBn to resume security duty at Dhaka airport

The Armed Police Battalion (APBn) will resume security duties inside Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport as soon as possible, as decided at a meeting held at the Chief Adviser's Office on Wednesday.

The decision was taken to resolve the year-long dispute over security duties at Dhaka airport between the APBn, a specialised combat unit of the Bangladesh Police, and Aviation Security (AVSEC), a division led by the Bangladesh Air Force.

It was also decided that both APBn and AVSEC would carry out their respective responsibilities at the airport as mandated and that the BAF task force, currently deployed there, would withdraw as soon as possible, according to meeting notes on airport security and policing.

The Daily Star obtained a copy of the meeting notes yesterday.

The meeting was chaired by Lutfey Siddiqi, special envoy to the chief adviser on international affairs. Among others, Civil Aviation Ministry Adviser SK Bashir Uddin, Civil Aviation Secretary Nasreen Jahan, Inspector General of Police Baharul Alam, Chief Adviser's Office Secretary M Saifullah Panna, CAAB Chairman Air Vice Marshal Md Mostafa Mahmood Siddiq, Additional Secretary (Home) Faisal Ahmed, CAAB Member (Security) Air Cdre Md Asif Iqbal, and Group Captain M Kamrul Islam, director, CW&IT, Air Headquarters, were present.

In his opening remarks, Lutfey Siddiqi underscored the importance of inter-agency cooperation, noting that all government departments are working towards the same goal.

The Civil Aviation secretary and the CAAB chairman gave separate PowerPoint presentations on CAAB's functions and the current security and policing arrangements at airports.

The inspector general of police informed the meeting that prevention and detection of crime are legally the responsibility of the police, and no other agency is authorised to carry out those duties.

After the discussions, the meeting took six decisions, which include that all agencies operating within airports will function under CAAB, ensuring unified command, regulation and control.

The IGP and the CAAB chairman will engage in regular discussions to minimise operational challenges.

It was also decided that weekly security meetings must be held at every airport.

For long-term reforms, the civil aviation ministry may recommend ways to restructure CAAB to separate its roles as operator and regulator.

For almost a year, APBn and the Air Force-led AVSEC had been locked in a dispute over security responsibilities inside the airport.

After the change of government in August last year, many Ansar personnel left their posts, prompting the temporary deployment of the BAF task force. At the same time, APBn was barred from securities duty inside the airport.

Later, APBn alleged that AVSEC members had removed office materials from its airport office, prompting the battalion to file a general diary with the Airport Police Station.