Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has begun conducting Yoga sessions for officers alongside Physical Training (PT) to reap its benefits to the body’s immune system.

Various types of PT have been conducting separately at different units of the DMP under the directive of DMP Commissioner Mohammad Shafiqul Islam to increase the police members ’bodies’ resistance to disease.

Following the DMP Commissioner’s instruction, a yoga session was held at the Shaheed SI Shiru Mia Auditorium of Rajarbagh Police Lines on Friday. Two hundred policemen from the Welfare and Force Department of the DMP took part in it, Assistant Commissioner (Force) of the DMP KN Roy Niyaty told UNB

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The yoga session was jointly organized by the Welfare and Force Department of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police and the Bangladesh Yoga Association. Mohammad Harun, Founder and General Secretary of Bangladesh Yoga Association, conducted the session from 6:30 am to 8:20 am in the morning as a trainer, the AC (Force) said.

He said Yoga session will be conducted on two days (Friday and Saturday) every week where members of Welfare and Force Division will take part in phases. “Earlier we have already started PT for the police members’ everyday from 6:30 am to 7:45 am at the parade ground of Rajarbagh police lines. Now we will conduct the Yoga session alongside the regular PT,” he said.

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Yoga is a good way to prevent the ongoing COVID-19. It increases the efficiency of the lungs as well as the body's resistance to disease. As a result, this initiative has been launched with the objective of increasing the physical capacity of the police members as well as playing a positive role in keeping their morale strong.

The diplomatic security division of the DMP has already started conducting Yoga sessions from last week soon after the instruction of the DMP Commissioner. “We have already started the Yoga session under the supervision of our Deputy Commissioner (Diplomatic Security)  Ashraful Islam,” said Rajon Kumar Saha, AC (diplomatic security).

He said two Yoga sessions were conducted on June-7 and June 8 last week. First Session was organised with Participation of 150 members, while the second session with 200 members, he added.

“We will conduct Yoga sessions on 2-3 days a week where every member, out of around 1200 members under the Diplomatic Security Division, will participate in phases,” AC Rajon said.

Frontline coronavirus fighters like doctors, members of police, Armed Forces and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and other agencies have been getting affected while performing duties across the country. They have been jointly working to ensure social distancing alongside distributing relief materials.

In the meantime, 24 members of Bangladesh Police died of COVID-19 till Saturday morning,  said Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police Headquarters (Media) Md Sohel Rana.

Since the beginning of the spread of Coronavirus  in the country, Police have been working relentlessly as the main frontrunner with the highest risk to ensure the service and safety of the people, he said.

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On March 8, the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) announced for the first time the detection of three Covid-19 patients in Bangladesh and then it reported first death due to COVID-19 infection formally on March 18.

Proud members of Bangladesh Police, as a single profession, have been infected with the highest number of coronavirus infections, the AIG media proudly proclaimed.

Sources at the Police headquarters said altogether 7,197 police members have been infected with COVID-19  as of Saturday. Among the coronavirus-infected police members, 1934 are from Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) alone.

The health authorities in Bangladesh on Saturday confirmed the detection of 2,856 new coronavirus patients in the span of 24 hours, raising the total number to 84,379.

The death toll meanwhile crept up to 1,139 as 44 more people died from COVID-19 during the same period.