Online Desk  :  Baharul Alam took charge as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) on Thursday (November 21) morning at the Police Headquarters in Dhaka. He succeeded outgoing IGP Md Mainul Islam. Enamul Haque Sagar, Assistant Inspector General of Police (Media and Public Relations) at the Police Headquarters, confirmed the development.

The government had appointed him to the position on a two-year contractual basis, effective from Wednesday (November 20). Baharul, a retired Deputy Inspector General and an officer from the 1984 BCS batch, replaced Mainul Islam as the IGP. The appointment is conditional upon his resignation from any other profession, business, or employment with any government, semi-government, or private organization.

Baharul has an extensive career. He served as the chief of the Special Branch (SB) from 2007 to 2008 and later held roles at the Police Headquarters. Between 2009 and 2013, he worked as a Police Liaison Officer at the United Nations Headquarters in the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. In 2015, he served as a Senior Police Advisor for the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in Afghanistan. Additionally, he undertook assignments in Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, and Sierra Leone.

Baharul went on retirement in 2020 after being denied promotion twice. He hails from Tarail upazila in Kishoreganj district. Mainul, a 12th BCS Police Cadre officer, had been serving as IGP since August 7, following the fall of the Awami League government amid mass student protests.

Sources in the home and public administration ministries indicated that Mainul is likely to be appointed as a secretary or an ambassador. Meanwhile, former Additional Inspector General of Police, Sk Md Sazzat Ali, assumed office as the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner on Thursday. He has been appointed to the post on a two-year contract.