A Supreme Court lawyer has filed a writ petition with the High Court seeking directives to reorganise the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) and appoint two separate police commissioners for the capital to improve law enforcement and public safety.
The writ was filed yesterday (16 April) by Supreme Court Appellate Division lawyer SM Zulfikar Ali Junnu, who is also the chairman of the National Lawyers Council. He said the matter may come up for hearing next week.
The petition names several respondents, including the secretaries of the home ministry and local government ministry, the inspector general of police (IGP), the DMP commissioner, and the mayors of Dhaka North City Corporation and Dhaka South City Corporation.
According to the writ, although Dhaka is administratively divided into two city corporations – north and south – policing across the entire city continues to be managed under a single structure led by one DMP commissioner.
The petitioner argued that rapid urbanisation, a growing population, rising crime, traffic congestion, and public safety challenges have made the current centralised policing system ineffective.
The writ seeks High Court directives to divide the DMP into two separate units, appoint individual commissioners for the two city corporations, take urgent measures to strengthen law and order, and declare the existing structure ineffective and unconstitutional.
