Staff Correspondent: Dhaka: State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Sultan Salahuddin Tuku yesterday called for coordinated and tougher action to curb drug trafficking, juvenile gangs and other crimes in Dhaka district.
“Drug eradication should be our first priority,” he said at a meeting on the district’s law and order and development activities at the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock.
Dhaka District Commissioner Farida Khanam chaired the meeting, attended by lawmakers, administrative officials and representatives of law enforcement agencies.
Tuku said juvenile gangs were becoming a growing concern as they operated in different groups across the district.
“If we cannot stop drugs now, their spread will only increase. If we fail to rein them in immediately, society will eventually break down,” he said.
He directed police to form coordinated teams with members of other law enforcement agencies in different areas to take action against drug-related activities.
The state minister also ordered the authorities to prepare lists of drug dealers and take action against them based on those lists.
“Prepare the lists. Action will be taken accordingly,” he said.
Tuku also called for tighter regulation of battery-run auto-rickshaws, saying their uncontrolled growth was contributing to traffic congestion.
He urged authorities to bring the vehicles under a proper licensing and regulatory framework before the situation became more difficult to manage.
The state minister also stressed the need to speed up development projects in the district. He asked officials to inform him of any projects facing delays, assuring them that he would raise the issues with Prime Minister Tarek Rahman and seek solutions.
He said the prime minister would receive monthly updates on law-and-order and development activities in each district.
Tuku urged officials to perform their duties with honesty and sincerity, saying coordinated efforts were essential to improving both law and order and development.
At the meeting, participants also discussed measures to prevent drug sales, juvenile gangs, robbery, theft and mugging. They called for social mobilisation against crime, removal of illegal shops, freeing footpaths from encroachment and stronger measures to ease traffic congestion.
Lawmakers called on police to play a more effective role in enforcing a zero-tolerance policy against drugs.
Dhaka-1 MP Khondkar Abu Ashfaq, Dhaka-19 MP Dr Dewan Mohammad Salahuddin Babu, Dhaka-20 MP Tamiz Uddin, reserved-seat MPs Nipun Roy Chowdhury and Ferdousi Ahmed, Dhaka District Council Administrator Yasin Ferdous Murad, Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime, Operations and Traffic-South) Md Tarikul Islam and Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Md Abdur Rafiul Alam, among others, attended the meeting.
