Bangladesh is to arm more of its police officers to combat an increase in violent crime, officials said Monday.
More members of the Armed Police Battalion will be posted at identified crime hotspots in the capital Dhaka and if required at other major cities, especially during the night, they said. No figures on the increase in the number of armed officers were given.
Many Bangladeshi police go unarmed or carry only light weapons.
Newspapers have reported unabetted crime across Bangladesh despite Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's landslide election victory a month ago on a promise to free Bangladesh from violence and corruption.
According to one report, more than 122 political-related murders took place nationwide in the month following the October 1 parliamentary election.
Police said senior officers were deployed Monday to a college in the Gazipur district north of Dhaka after a student was killed in unclear circumstances.
The private Ekushey television network reported that students at the Bangladesh Institute of Technology have been ordered to vacate their dormitories.
The decision to deploy the armed police came after Zia met late Sunday with Home Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, officials said -- DHAKA, (AFP)
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