Law alone doesn’t suffice to curb drugs, militancy: IGP

Inspector General of Police (IGP) AKM Shahidul Hoque said on Saturday it is not possible to control drugs and militancy only by applying law and filing cases, reports UNB.
Speaking at a press conference on the occasion of the police week in the police headquarters, the IGP said: "We could not eliminate the drug and militancy entirely."
He identified Yaba as the biggest drug menace. "Yaba is coming from neighbouring countries through a long border stretching 90 to 100 kilometres. Thousands of fishermen travel every day by boat and some of them also carry Yaba in their stomach, along with vegetable supplies. It is not possible for us to stop it. But the police position about drugs is zero tolerance", he said.
The IGP said that the police had conducted a lot of operations in the fight against drug-addiction, had shootouts with drug dealers in different places including Cox's Bazar, Narayanganj and Police.
"A total of 287,254 cases have been filed against drug dealers in the last five years. It is not possible to tackle this by applying law and filing case alone," he added.
He, however, declined to disclose the names of the drug dealers when a journalist had asked him to name the ones who are engaged in illegal drug trade.
The Police Week-2018 will begin in the city's Rajarbagh Police Lines with distribution of awards among police and RAB members on January 08.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the five-day police week where 182 police and RAB members will be awarded Bangladesh Police Medal (BPM), BPM (Service), President Police Medal (PPM) and PPM (Service) on the occasion.
AKM Shahidul Hoque said: "We will give more awards this year as they have struggled a lot to combat militancy. Police is recognised as role model in controlling militancy."
The prime minister will inspect the parade, take salute and then distribute the medals among the winners while President Md Abdul Hamid will participate in the dinner with the police personnel.