Police Academy to be established in Jangal Salimpur
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed talks to journalists at the Secretariat on Thursday. Photo: Agamir Somoy.
The government is contemplating to build a police academy in Jangal Salimpur, located in Sitakunda, Chattogram—a region long notorious as a haven for terrorists.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said on Thursday that government-owned public land (khas land) will be reclaimed, with a significant portion set aside to build a police academy modeled after the Sardah facility. Additionally, Chattogram Central Jail will be relocated to the site.
His remarks came at the Secretariat following the second meeting of the National Committee on Coordination, Management, and Law Enforcement for Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals, as well as a meeting on improving the overall law and order situation in Jangal Salimpur.
Covering a hilly area of nearly 12.5 square kilometers in Sitakunda, Jangal Salimpur had turned into a base for land grabbers, terrorists, and hardened criminals, essentially operating as a state within a state.
The Home Minister noted that efforts are currently underway to reclaim government land in Jangal Salimpur and clear the area of criminal activity.
He added that a 300-acre section will be allocated for the new police academy, while 72 acres will be dedicated to Chattogram Central Jail.
Priorities also include rehabilitating illegal residents of Jangal Salimpur and establishing structured governance on government-owned land, Salahuddin said.
Regarding security and infrastructure development in the Cox's Bazar Rohingya camps, he announced that two Army camps—led by the 10th Infantry Division in Ramu—will be established in Rangikhali and Noakhali Para to curb hill-based kidnappings and ransom demands.
He also mentioned plans to repair damaged perimeter fencing outside the camps, install lighting and CCTV cameras, and erect watchtowers.
To tackle drug traffickers, gamblers, human traffickers, and armed groups inside the Rohingya camps, joint operations led by the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) will be intensified, the Home Minister added.
In response to a journalist's question, he expressed the government's belief that swift repatriation of the Rohingya will be achievable through international support and coordinated UN efforts.
