A bill has been passed in the National Assembly to abolish the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and form a new elite force, the Special Response Battalion (SRB). The bill was passed by voice vote in the third session of the 13th National Assembly at around 5:30 pm on Thursday (September 10).

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed moved the motion for the bill to be passed, and Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed gave it a voice vote.

Since its establishment, RAB has been operating under the Armed Police Battalion (Amendment) Act of 2003. Along with the SRB Bill, the Armed Police Battalion (APBN) Bill-2026 has already been introduced in the Parliament.

Earlier, Salahuddin Ahmed said in his speech about the bill, “To maintain public safety and order in the needs of the society and the administration of the state, changes have to be made in the unit or force. That is why we are doing this. The formation of one organization has nothing to do with the abolition of another. We are doing the new force because RAB was formed under the Armed Police Battalion. That law was not complete. The unit was working under a section. That is why we want to take it out of the Armed Police Battalion and abolish it. At the same time, there were some ambiguities in the English language in this law, we are also translating that law and bringing it as a new law,” he said.

According to the passed bill, the SRB will work as a specialized unit under the police force. This unit will be formed by police officers, members of the disciplinary force and designated armed members or employees through recruitment or posting. The unit will have its own flag, symbol and uniform. An additional inspector general of police or an officer of the rank of above will be made the director general.

The SRB will be empowered to investigate, search, arrest and seize criminal offences. The unit will also have its own detention centre, warehouse and interrogation centre. A grievance redressal committee will be formed comprising various parties to deal with public complaints and internal complaints of SRB members.