The instruction was communicated in an official letter signed by the superintendent of police of the district’s Special Branch (DSB) on Friday night. Copies were sent to the relevant offices and police stations across the district, with unit heads instructed to take the necessary steps to ensure compliance.
The letter referred to the prevailing law and order situation and a series of recent incidents. It stated that special operations were under way in Rupsha, Terokhada, Dighalia and Batiaghata upazilas, while members of law enforcement agencies had also recently come under attack. In view of these developments, police personnel engaged in special operations and other duties were instructed to avoid travelling alone at night to reduce the risk to their personal safety.
Khulna Superintendent of Police Sarker Omar Faruk said the decision was taken after a police inspector was seriously injured in a mugging incident late on Thursday. The officer had completed a special operation at Rupsha Police Station and was returning to the city after crossing the river by ferry. He was travelling home in a rickshaw and was wearing plain clothes.
According to the superintendent, the inspector had two mobile phones and a wallet with him when he was confronted by the attackers near Khulna Collegiate Girls’ School. He may have attempted to resist them, although this has not been established. His injuries were serious, and he was transferred to a private hospital in Dhaka for advanced treatment. He remains under medical care there.
The superintendent said the directive was intended to protect every member of the district police, particularly those returning home after completing their duties. The aim, he explained, was to prevent officers from becoming victims of mugging while travelling alone at night.
Asked whether the instruction could create the impression that police personnel were facing growing insecurity, Sarker Omar Faruk described the letter as an internal communication. He said its purpose was to prevent police officers from falling victim to muggers, rather than to convey a broader message about the security situation.
Police sources said Inspector Shah Alam, 43, was attacked at around 2.30am on Friday on Khan Jahan Ali Road, near Khulna Collegiate School. He was travelling by rickshaw towards the city after taking part in a special operation in Rupsha when three suspected muggers stopped him.
The attackers allegedly took his money and mobile phones. When he resisted, they struck both his wrists with a sharp chapati, a type of heavy-bladed knife. Police later rescued him and took him to hospital. As his condition deteriorated, he was transferred to Dhaka for specialist treatment.
The attack came amid a series of violent incidents that had prompted district police to intensify enforcement activities. A special operation targeting suspected criminals and the recovery of illegal firearms began on Tuesday night, following two fatal shootings.
In Rupsha, Akhtar Dhali was shot dead on Monday, around a month and a half after his son, Joy Dhali, was murdered. Another man was shot dead at a tea stall in the Formayshkhana area of Dighalia. The killings prompted police to step up operations in parts of the district, including the four upazilas named in the directive.
The latest instruction places particular emphasis on the safety of officers travelling after night duty. Unit heads have been asked to take the necessary measures, while the special operations are continuing as police seek to arrest suspects and recover illegal firearms.
The circumstances surrounding the attack on Inspector Shah Alam and the wider series of violent incidents have added to the pressure on local law enforcement to pursue criminal investigations while safeguarding personnel working in the field. The district police’s directive is a precautionary measure intended to reduce the risk of further attacks on officers outside their immediate places of duty.
