Former DB Chief Harun Or Rashid Dismissed From Service

Former DB chief Mohammad Harun-or-Rashid. File photo

The government has dismissed Mohammad Harun Or Rashid, the former additional police commissioner (Crime and Operations) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) and a controversial former chief of its Detective Branch (DB), over prolonged unauthorised absence from duty.

The absence was treated as “desertion” under government service rules, leading to the disciplinary action.

The Home Ministry’s Discipline-1 branch issued a notification on Saturday, October 31, following approval from the president. The order states that the dismissal will be effective retrospectively from August 6, 2024.

According to the notification, Harun Or Rashid, a deputy inspector general (DIG)-rank officer, was serving as DMP’s additional police commissioner for Crime and Operations when he remained absent from his workplace without permission from the competent authority.

The ministry said repeated attempts were made to contact him at his current and permanent addresses and through his email address, but he did not return to duty.

The Police Headquarters subsequently sent a letter to the Home Ministry seeking departmental action against him. A departmental case, numbered 005/2025, was filed on April 15, 2026.

Harun was issued a show-cause notice asking him to respond to the allegations. However, he neither submitted a written reply nor sought an extension of time, the notification said.

Given the seriousness of the allegations, an inquiry officer was appointed on June 22. The officer submitted an investigation report on August 6, concluding that the charge of “desertion” had been established beyond reasonable doubt under Rule 3(c) of the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2018.

A second show-cause notice was issued to Harun on August 20, but he again failed to respond.

The government then sought the Bangladesh Public Service Commission’s opinion on imposing the major penalty of dismissal. The commission supported the dismissal in its opinion dated October 1.

After reviewing the departmental case documents, inquiry report and commission’s opinion, the Home Ministry concluded that the allegations had been proved and decided to dismiss Harun from service.

The president approved the decision on October 25. Home Ministry Senior Secretary Manzur Morshed Chowdhury issued the notification by order of the president, stating that the order would take immediate effect.