Editorial
The rising spectre of crime
Police force must be galvanized into action
There are serious questions we must raise again about the overall law and order situation in the country. The murder of a journalist and his wife in Dhaka a few days ago has only confirmed fears that there is a slide where security of life is concerned. We are yet to see the police come up with any clues relating to the killings. Add to these incidents the shooting which left the guard of a residential building in Dhaka's Shyampur badly injured. There is then the killing of a trader in East Rampura. The pattern appears to be distressingly familiar. As if to add to such a feeling, we now have from Bogra the story of a girl studying in class seven falling prey to stalking. By itself stalking is a crime, but what makes this incident worse is that the stalker allegedly tried to take the girl's life by slitting her throat.
The incontrovertible fact today is that there are criminal elements around, not only in the capital but elsewhere as well, who clearly feel they can commit crimes with impunity and get away with the act. The failure of the law enforcers to check crime or to take swift action once crimes occur has led to circumstances where criminality is busy extending its reach, to a point where citizens are once more left with a feeling of helplessness. Only the other day the higher functionaries of the state asked the people to help the police in combating crime. Of course the people will always be there to assist the police in any way they can to detect crime. The bigger question is whether the police are ready to respond to acts of criminality or to anticipate them and take preventive action.
All too often, it has been seen that criminals somehow get away or even when specific complaints are lodged with police stations, little follow-up action follows. So what is of fundamental importance here is that the police administration must inject energy into the way it works through making the police speedily responsive to crime. While it is necessary to look for clues to an act of criminality, it is more important that the law enforcers first get down to the business of tracking down those who have committed it or may have had a hand in it.
Governance is all about reassuring people on their basic needs. One important need is a guarantee of life through keeping tabs on those who would threaten life.
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