Security Services Division
Profile
- Head
- Md. Abdullah Al Masud Chowdhury
- Role
- Secretary
- Annual budget
- ৳40,380,000,000
- Staff
- —
- Established
- 2017
- Legal basis
- Ministry of Public Administration Gazette Notification, 20 January 2017 (S.R.O. No. 27-Ain/2017), formally establishing the division following the Cabinet decision of 1 June 2016 to bifurcate the Ministry of Home Affairs. Rules of Business 1996 (as amended) allocate SSD subjects. September 3, 2025 Cabinet Division notification merged SSD and the Public Security Division back into a single home ministry structure under the Yunus interim government; SSD continues to function as a named sub-unit with a separate budget line and dedicated website.
SSD is overseeing two simultaneous reform tracks: (1) a prison rehabilitation rebranding (Correction Services Bangladesh) with a draft Correction Services Act 2025 pending Cabinet approval; (2) bilateral narcotics diplomacy, culminating in the May 8, 2026 MoU with Pakistan via DNC. The September 2025 merger has left SSD functioning as an administrative sub-unit of MoHA without full division autonomy, while its FY 2025-26 budget of Tk 4,038 crore (Tk 341 crore above FY 2024-25 revised) remains allocated separately.
Recent activity
- 2026-05-08 international Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed and Pakistan Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi signed a bilateral MoU in Dhaka to combat illicit drug trafficking, narcotics abuse, and related money laundering. The agreement, administered through DNC under SSD oversight, establishes a secretary-level joint working group, mandates timely intelligence exchange on trafficking networks, and commits both sides to coordinated anti-narcotics operations and joint dismantling of drug supply chains. Pakistan also offered cooperation on a Safe City project for Bangladesh. ↗↗↗↗↗
- 2026-02-17 appointment Salahuddin Ahmed (BNP, MP from Cox's Bazar-1) sworn in as Home Minister, assuming political oversight of the Ministry of Home Affairs and its two sub-divisions including SSD, following the BNP-led government's formation under PM Tarique Rahman. ↗↗↗
- 2025-09-03 reform Cabinet Division issued gazette notification (under Rules of Business authority, approved by Chief Adviser Yunus) merging the Public Security Division and Security Services Division back into a single Ministry of Home Affairs structure under one senior secretary. SSD continues to maintain its website (ssd.gov.bd), a separate FY 2025-26 budget line of Tk 4,038 crore, and an Online Security Clearance System; operational merger was administrative, not functional. ↗↗↗↗
- 2025-08-26 policy Inspector General of Prisons Brig Gen Syed Md Motahar Hossain announced at a press briefing at Prisons Directorate HQ, Bakshibazar, Dhaka, that Bangladesh Jail will be renamed Correction Services Bangladesh to reflect a rehabilitation-first approach. He confirmed a draft Correction Services Act 2025 has been finalised and submitted for government approval, aiming to modernise the Prisons Act 1894. Infrastructure expansion: two new central prisons and four district jails opened to address overcrowding (79,000 inmates in facilities built for 43,000). A correctional industrial park was also proposed. ↗↗↗↗↗
Provenance & notes
SSD was created by gazette notification of 20 January 2017 formalising a Cabinet decision of 1 June 2016 to split MoHA into two divisions. The September 3, 2025 merger under the Yunus interim government eliminated SSD as a formally autonomous division, but the entity retains its own website (ssd.gov.bd), budget line (Tk 4,038 crore in FY 2025-26), and online services portal. Whether the BNP government formed February 17, 2026 has issued a fresh gazette reconstituting SSD as a separate division could not be confirmed from available primary sources as of May 17, 2026; verification_status is therefore 'partial'. The current_head (Md. Abdullah Al Masud Chowdhury) was confirmed as Secretary by multiple primary sources from his July 2022 appointment through 2023; his current status post-September 2025 merger has not been independently confirmed for 2026 and should be re-verified. He is recorded in the Dhaka prison website (prison.dhaka.gov.bd), BSS, New Age, and Wikipedia as SSD Secretary. head_since is approximate (July 2022). Budget: Tk 4,038 crore = BDT 40,380,000,000 (1 crore = 10,000,000), sourced from BSS budget coverage corroborated by MoF portal line item. The Prisons Act 1894 governs prison administration pending enactment of the draft Correction Services Act 2025. DNC established January 2, 1990 under Narcotics Control Act 1990. Pakistan MoU date confirmed as May 8, 2026 by BSS, Outlook Bangla, Dawn, and The Express Tribune; some Pakistani outlets datelined it May 9 reflecting Karachi time zone of publication.
Sources
- https://ssd.gov.bd/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_Service_Division
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Security_Division
- https://mof.portal.gov.bd/site/budget_mof/da4917f2-9a1b-4d09-b2ea-f7a5221a9844/Security-Services-Division
- https://www.bssnews.net/national-budget-2025-2026/279557
- https://www.bssnews.net/news-flash/385326
- https://outlookbangla.com/2026/05/08/bangladesh-pakistan-sign-mou-to-combat-drug-trafficking-narcotics-abuse/
- https://tribune.com.pk/story/2607164/pakistan-bangladesh-sign-mou-to-combat-drug-smuggling-agree-to-boost-security-ties
- https://www.dawn.com/news/1999063/pakistan-bdesh-ink-anti-drugs-agreement
- https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/public-security-security-services-divisions-merged-back-home-ministry-1228436
- https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/government-affairs/364040/two-divisions-of-the-home-ministry-merges-again
- https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/d7b13851281a
- https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/governance/news/govt-merges-two-divisions-under-home-ministry-3977891
- https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/389947/bangladesh-jail-to-be-renamed-correction-service
- https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/700-prisoners-still-run-after-july-uprising-29-firearms-unrecovered-ig-prisons-1220956
- https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/national/prisons-to-be-renamed-as-correction-services-bangladesh-igp
- https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/393802/reform-on-paper-punishment-in-practice%E2%80%94when-will
- https://www.newagebd.net/article/175245/masud-chowdhury-made-security-services-division-secretary
- https://www.bssnews.net/news/70635
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Md._Abdullah_Al_Masud_Chowdhury
- https://dnc.gov.bd/site/page/cfdbb42a-7172-42a7-8a72-e0e6611325ee/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Narcotics_Control