The government has dismissed 252 cadet sub-inspectors for 'causing a commotion over the snacks served' at the rehearsal of the graduation parade in Sarda Academy.
The batch, recruited during the Awami League regime, included 804 members, reports bdnews24.com.
Three other members of the batch had previously been dismissed, taking the total number of dismissals to 255.
At least 49 of the 804 batch members were recruited from Gopalganj.
Earlier on Thursday, the BNP demanded at a press briefing that the government scrap the appointment of 803 SIs and 67 assistant superintendents of police who were recruited just before the Awami League government collapsed. It was not clear if they had demanded the dismissal of this specific batch.
However, Home Advisor Lt Gen Jahangir Alam Chowdhury told reporters on Tuesday that there was no political motive for the dismissal of the SIs.
The Bangladesh Police Academy cited a 'breach of discipline' as the reason behind the dismissal of 252 trainee SIs (outside cadets) from Sarda. "Discipline has a broad definition. The academy can provide an explanation. Even in the army, we have seen [members] were sent back the day before they graduated," the home advisor said when asked about the reason for the dismissals.
The reporters also queried if the SIs were involved in politics during their student life. "The academy terminated them for breaching discipline. Sometimes a large number of them are terminated. Sometimes an entire batch is dismissed. Once, an entire BGB batch was dismissed. This can happen. There's no political reason behind this," he said in reply.
One of the dismissed sub-inspectors said that the authorities sent them a letter which said on Oct 1, the rehearsal day of the graduation parade for the 40th batch, all trainees were served snacks as per the menu previously fixed. However, instead of eating the snacks, the participants (SIs) created unrest and acted in a way that demeaned the academy. Then they went back to the barracks. The academy perceived the issue as a serious breach of discipline, it said.
The authorities decided to be stringent with the trainees in Sarda, an official at the academy said, on condition of anonymity. Three other members, including a woman, were discharged for breaching discipline by developing illicit relationships. The remaining 252 were dismissed for breaching discipline at the parade.
The official said the dismissal of those SIs had been discussed for several days.
The police have been experiencing reshuffles and changes since the Awami League government was ousted on Aug 5.
After the BNP made its demands on Thursday, the graduation parade of the 40th BCS cadre's trainee assistant police superintendents on Sunday was postponed due to 'unavoidable circumstances.'
The postponement occurred even though the home advisor and other high-ups in the home ministry went to Sarda to attend the graduation parade.
