Staff Correspondent:

The home ministry has instructed police stations to accept complaints without refusal or unnecessary delay.

Senior Information Officer Faisal Hasan said in a press release on Friday that a notification entailing the directive was issued on Aug 21 by the Police-3 Branch of the Public Security Division under the ministry.

The order called for immediate action on complaints and warned against unnecessary delays in the investigation and examination processes.

The directive came in response to allegations and media reports that some stations were reluctant or slow to file general diaries, or GD, First Information Reports, or FIR, and cases.

The ministry said Bangladesh Police, as a crucial institution for public safety, must act swiftly to maintain its integrity and public trust.

This move follows an incident, where the family of photographer Tahir Zaman Priyo faced significant delays in filing a case as it included names of former New Market Police Station chief Md Aminul Islam and DMP Assistant Commissioner (New Market Zone) Md Refatul Islam.

Other accused in the case are former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan, former IGP Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, former DC of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Ramna Zone Mohammad Ashraf Imam, and former ADC of Ramna Zone Hafiz Al Asad.

During the quota reform protests, young photographer Priyo was shot and killed on Green Road in Dhaka on Jul 19.

He was previously a video journalist for the news portal The Report.live.

On Aug 20, Priyo’s mother, Shamsi Ara Zaman, went to New Market Police Station to lodge the case.

After police refused to accept the case, Priyo’s family and friends staged a sit-in with placards outside the station.

After over 12 hours of waiting, and with the intervention of senior police officials, the case was finally registered by police in the middle of the night.