Special Branch (Bangladesh)

The Special Branch or SB is the prime intelligence agency of Bangladesh, being an important agency in the Bangladeshi intelligence community. The chief of the SB has the rank of Additional Inspector General (Addl IGP) (Grade - 1) who comes from Bangladesh Police, and directly reports to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. The agency has around 64 district based offices, called District Special Branch (DSB) and also has offices in many Upazila/Thana areas. All the members are recruited from the Bangladesh Police. The SB (Special Branch) has twelve different wings through which it carries out the directives of the Government. This is the only intelligence outfit of Bangladesh which works in all strategic, operational and tactical levels. The organization also has the capability to work within and outside the country.

At the beginning of British rule in India, the Government generally was dependent on the village-watch system for the collection of information about crime and socio-religious developments from the remote areas. There was hardly any organized system of reporting of information of political nature. Another channel of information of the local administration was their personal contacts with the Zamindars and other influential persons of the society.

At the beginning of 19th century, the appointment of a class of functionaries known as 'Goindahs' is noticed; but these Goindahs, meaning spies were generally appointed to the suspected Thanas with instructions to keep track and report the activities of the Darogas.

The need for collection of political intelligence arose with the growth of political consciousness and political institutions in India. In fact, the history of intelligence organization is linked with the history of national awakening and the development of organized political activities in the country.

As the Congress movement was taking off, Dufferin became aware of the inadequacy of the system of collection of political intelligence and saw in the Indian National Congress, a threat to the stability of the empire, as there was no other political movement at that time raging in the country. In response of Dufferin's proposal the Secretary of State for India issued an order on December 22, 1887 for setting up a Central Special Branch and also Special Branches of the Police Department at the headquarters of each provincial Government.

In the beginning, the Central Special Branch did not have any unit solely under their control. They were merely collating and compiling their reports received from the provincial Special Branches. But in the far-flung areas of the Empire, there was need for collecting military intelligence.

In 1901 it was, therefore, decided that the Central Special Branch which was responsible only for the collection of political intelligence should be expanded to include a small staff of selective detective agents, to be employed to monitor political movements as also to deal with those forms of organized crimes which extended beyond the limits of a single province.

...
Wikipedia