APBn to operate in Shahjalal International Airport, Air Force personnel to return

The Chief Advisor's Office has assigned the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) to operate inside Dhaka's Shahjalal International Airport, deciding that the Air Force Task Force would return to their barracks.

The year-long rivalry between the two forces at the country’s main airport has drawn widespread attention.

APBn members at the airport also alleged that AVSEC -- an Air Force-dependent airport security unit -- personnel had removed items from their office inside the terminal.

Following a meeting at the Chief Advisor’s Office on Wednesday, six decisions were made, including allowing APBn to resume duties inside the airport and returning Air Force personnel to their units after completing their duties.

After the change of power in the July Uprising, about 1000 Ansar officers assigned to the airport security left their duties one night as part of the “Ansar rebellion”.

It was then announced that Air Force personnel would be deployed there to provide security.

At the same time, APBn members have been prevented from performing duties inside the airport since August.

The APBn filed a general diary (GD) with the Airport Police Station over the incident, bringing the conflict with AVSEC into the public eye.

During this period, several incidents of passenger harassment by Air Force personnel were criticised, with the AVSEC accusing APBn officers of circulating videos of the incidents to the media.

Most recently, last week, CAAB member (Security) Air Commodore Asif Iqbal wrote a letter to the police headquarters accusing an APBn commander of violating etiquette at a meeting.

The government has taken the initiative to establish a new force, known as the Air Guard of Bangladesh (AGB), to secure the country’s airports.

Officials from different ministries and agencies, led by the home ministry, met to discuss the new force. According to the meeting minutes, Lutfey Siddiqi outlined the context and stressed the importance of inter-agency cooperation at the airport.

Six decisions were made in the meeting:

#All agencies involved in ensuring single command, regulation, and control of the airport will work under the sole authority of the CAAB.

#APBn and AVSEC will continue their duties, with APBn set to resume work inside the airport terminal building as soon as possible.

#The IGP and the CAAB chairman will hold a meeting to address operational challenges.

#The Air Force task force will return to the parent organisation immediately upon the completion of their duties.

#Security meetings will be held every week at all airports.

As part of the far-reaching structural changes, the Ministry of Civil Aviation may recommend restructuring CAAB into separate roles of operator and regulator.