Activities of the Awami League, its student wing Chhatra League, and associated organisations are once again on the rise in Chattogram.
Since Eid-ul-Adha, sudden flash processions, secret meetings, organisational activity via social media, and attempts at regrouping in small clusters in both city and upazila areas have created fresh concern.
To address the situation, Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) and intelligence agencies are preparing a new strategy that includes increased field surveillance, strengthened digital monitoring, and rapid response operations.
According to sources, members of the banned organisations are now avoiding large gatherings and instead adopting a “hit-and-run” strategy.
Small flash processions, quick video recordings, immediate circulation on social media, and rapid relocation upon detecting police presence are being used to conduct activities.
Law enforcement officials believe coordination is also taking place through Facebook, Messenger, Telegram, and encrypted groups.
On Wednesday, Chhatra League activists staged a flash procession in front of a private hospital in the Ananya residential area of the city.
Two videos of the procession later went viral on social media showing several activists chanting slogans. Earlier on Monday morning, similar processions were also held at GEC intersection in the city.
Following these incidents, police arrested at least 70 activists of the Awami League and its affiliated organisations in raids.
On the same day around 8am, another video of a flash procession by banned Chhatra League activists circulated from Chattogram’s PAB Road area in Chatari Chowmuhani of Anwara upazila.
The nearly one-and-a-half-minute video showed several people chanting slogans while holding a banner. Locals said the procession lasted less than five minutes, after which participants quickly dispersed through alleyways.
Organisational activity is not limited to the city, with efforts reportedly underway to rebuild communication networks in Mirsharai, Hathazari, Raozan, Anwara and Patiya.
Local sources said discussions are ongoing in Mirsharai to unite factions led by former Upazila Chairman Gias Uddin and former minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain.
Photos of recent joint meetings of student and youth wing leaders have also circulated on social media, along with old and recent images of meetings with deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
On 14 May, Awami League and Chhatra League activists staged a major show of strength during the funeral of former Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain.
The large public gathering at the Jamiatul Falah National Mosque grounds after the funeral drew political attention and is considered the biggest open assembly of the banned groups in Chattogram since the fall of the Awami League government.
Intelligence sources said members of the banned organisations are now focusing on creating a “psychological presence” rather than large political programmes.
Short viral videos are being used to signal activity to grassroots workers. Some leaders living abroad are also believed to be maintaining contact with activists online.
CMP officials said key locations in the city have been placed under heightened surveillance, including GEC intersection, Bahaddarhat, Chawkbazar, Agrabad, Lalkhan Bazar, and Sholoshohor, as well as several residential areas.
Intelligence personnel in plainclothes have been deployed, and lists of suspected online activists are being updated at the police station level.
CMP Assistant Commissioner (Media) Aminur Rashid said police are no longer involved in illegal acts such as oppression, violence, shootings, killings, abductions or enforced disappearances, and therefore such groups are trying to take advantage of the situation.
He said police have been instructed to avoid any unlawful activity, while enforcement operations have been intensified.
“Intelligence surveillance continues. Operations are being conducted based on information, but rapid movement of suspects often makes immediate action difficult,” he said.
Police sources said at least 70 people have been arrested in raids across the city in the past week.
Several of them are linked to older cases involving sabotage, attacks and anti-state activities. Dozens of Facebook accounts and groups are also under surveillance.
Chittagong University Political Science Professor Shafiqul Islam said banned organisations are attempting to reassert their presence after a long period of inactivity, while also trying to regroup scattered grassroots activists and maintain organisational visibility on social media.
Chattogram, being one of the country’s most politically sensitive regions, is closely monitored by law enforcement due to its strategic importance as a port city.
Any political unrest here can quickly affect economic and security conditions, particularly around the port area, industrial zones, universities, and densely populated residential areas.
Local traders and residents have also expressed concern, saying sudden processions and fear of clashes create panic, and any escalation of political tension could negatively impact business and daily movement.
