The government has appointed new officers-in-charge to 527 police stations across the country after holding a lottery to ensure objectivity in the process.

On Monday, Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury personally oversaw the lottery at the Secretariat as part the government’s efforts to impartially reshuffle the administration and police force ahead of the 13th parliamentary elections.

The new OCs have been appointed at non-metropolitan areas. The list of appointees also includes existing OCs.

Earlier, the Police Headquarters sought a list of honest and impartial inspectors from concerned unit chiefs. The preliminary list was used in the lottery to prepare the final list.

As per the final list, 98 OCs have been appointed at police stations across 13 districts in Dhaka Range, 111 OCs at 11 districts in Chattogram Range, 64 OCs at 10 districts in Khulna Range, 36 OCs at 4 districts in Mymensingh Range, 46 OCs at 6 districts in Barishal Range, 39 OCs at 4 districts in Sylhet Range, 71 OCs at 8 districts in Rajshahi Range, and 62 OCs at 8 districts in Rangpur Range.