The interim government has decided to change the name of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) to ‘Special Intervention Force’ (SIF), Home Affairs Adviser Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury has said.

He announced the decision on Tuesday (3 February) after a core committee meeting at the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The adviser said the decision was taken as there had long been various questions and public concerns surrounding the name of the elite force. Alongside the name change, the force’s uniform will also be redesigned, and significant changes will be brought to its operational activities.

Referring to the overall law and order situation, Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said the morale and efficiency of the police force have improved compared to the past. He expressed confidence that there would be no problems in maintaining law and order during the upcoming election.

He said that it had taken considerable time to move away from what he described as a “mob culture”, but assured that the next election would be conducted in a very smooth manner.

During the briefing, it was also disclosed that a total of 7,731 firearms have so far been recovered by the army during the tenure of the interim government.

The Rapid Action Battalion was formed on 26 March 2004, and officially began its operations on 14 April of the same year.

According to the Armed Police Ordinance 1979 (Amendment 2004), RAB was constituted with members drawn from the Bangladesh Police, Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Air Force, Bangladesh Ansar and VDP, Border Guard Bangladesh and Bangladesh Coast Guard. The headquarters of the force is located in Uttara, Dhaka.