Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun on Monday said police will not face any image crisis due to the US visa policy.

“I don’t think that the police image will suffer a setback because of the policy,” he said.

He made the remarks in response to a question from journalists at the end of a seminar held at the Tourist Police Headquarters on Topkhana Road in the capital on Monday. 

The US Department of State on Friday said it began applying the visa restrictions the US announced on May 24 this year. It said it has imposed visa restrictions on members of law enforcement agencies, the ruling party, and the opposition.

The US, however, said it would not share the names of individuals facing the visa restrictions under this policy saying visa records, including individual visa denials, are confidential under US law.

When asked whether the police are thinking about recovering weapons before the national elections, the IGP said         police take action against anyone who is in possession of illegal arms. “If someone has an illegal weapon, it is confiscated. The drive against illegal arms holders will be conducted. However, for strategic reasons, we are not revealing any details at this time.

“We firmly believe that police can perform their duties properly during the next general election as they have some plans to seize illegal arms ahead of the election,” said the IGP.

In response to another question, the police chief said, “The law and order situation is completely under control. We investigate and take action after any incident. I want to assure you (people) that no one will be spared, no matter if he or she is a member of the law enforcement agencies. Legal action will be taken against criminals.”

About the election, the police boss said, “The Election Commission is responsible for holding the elections. We will carry out the responsibility given to us by the Election Commission during the election.”

The seminar titled ‘Combating Future Challenges in Tourism Security: Bangladesh Tourist Police Perspectives,’ was presided over by Additional Inspector General of Tourist Police, Habibur Rahman. During the event, Professor Masudur Rahman of Dhaka University presented the main article.