A journalist shot dead in public, passengers robbed at gunpoint on a highway, a courier company’s premises ransacked and allegations of extortion across public works projects have raised fresh questions about law and order.
The picture has exposed a gap between official crime statistics and the insecurity reported by citizens, businesses and human rights groups.
The Police Headquarters recorded 40 deaths and 65 injuries in 63 incidents of mob violence across the country in the first nine months of this year. Human Rights Support Society (HRSS), however, put the death toll at 187.
The disparity has cast doubt on how far official figures reflect the scale of violence and whether they provide a sufficient basis for declaring an improvement in public safety.
At a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on the home ministry on 15 October, ruling party lawmakers expressed satisfaction with the law-and-order situation. However, a series of violent incidents around the time of the meeting has sharpened concerns.
Journalist Lutfozzaman Alif Fakir was shot dead in public in Netrokona, on the night of the meeting. The following day, Mohammad Abu Kawsar, a Jubo Dal leader from Ward 4 of Cumilla city, was hacked to death.
On Monday, passengers in around 50 vehicles were robbed of cash and valuables in two separate incidents in Himchhari Dhala, Cox’s Bazar. The following day, a group of people wearing masks and helmets vandalised and looted a warehouse and office of courier company AJR in Hazaribagh, Dhaka.
The incidents have added to a growing list of reported killings, robberies, extortion and attacks on property, while allegations of police inaction have further undermined public confidence.
Former inspector general of police Baharul Alam told TIMES that official statistics alone could not capture public perceptions of safety. “Whatever the statistics may say, a negative perception of law and order has taken hold in people’s minds. Several incidents have left a deep impression,” he said.
Human rights activists and crime experts said extortion, robbery and other offences often went unrecorded, while victims and witnesses were reluctant to pursue cases or testify. Some cases were settled through informal agreements, they said, making police figures an incomplete measure of crime.
A senior business leader, requesting anonymity, said the amounts involved in extortion often determined whether incidents became public.
“People may file cases and the media may report it when someone demands Tk10 lakh or Tk20 lakh. But demands for Tk10 crore or Tk20 crore, or other large sums, rarely come out. Does anyone have the courage to file a case against those demanding such amounts?” he said.
Police headquarters’ monthly reports recorded 1,211 cases of extortion and robbery, and 2,372 murder cases across the country between February and September this year.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police recorded 20 robbery cases, 194 cases of extortion and robbery, and 178 murder cases over the period.
HRSS reported 73 deaths and 6,473 injuries in political violence over the first nine months of the year. It also said 518 journalists had faced harassment or abuse during the period.
Contractors working with the Public Works Department in Dhaka said they could not carry out projects secured through e-tendering without paying extortion money or commissions.
Contractors in Narayanganj said they faced coercion over the supply of construction materials. Contractors working with the Directorate General of Health Services also reported the activities of extortion groups.
Recent incidents include armed men threatening to kill officials and employees at the Gulshan Society office in Dhaka over control of waste collection work and demanding Tk50 lakh a month. In Savar, a truck carrying garment waste was hijacked after extortion money was allegedly withheld. In Bhairab, Kishoreganj, two owners of Khaja Steel Industries were seriously injured after being hacked and beaten for refusing to pay extortion money.
Over the past nine months, 491 unidentified bodies were recovered from rivers, canals, wetlands, forests and abandoned places across the country. A substantial number were believed to have been dumped after planned killings in attempts to conceal the crimes.
At least 18 incidents in recent months involved the brutal killing of multiple members of the same family, leaving 47 people dead, according to the HRSS report.
Chattogram recorded 564 murder cases in the first nine months of the year, according to home ministry statistics. Theft, robbery and snatching have also remained concerns at major intersections in the port city.
Khulna city and district recorded 66 killings over the nine-month period, including 33 in the metropolitan area. Other incidents in Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barishal and Rangpur have also drawn public attention.
Lawmakers defended their assessment of the situation, saying crime had declined across several categories and that overnight elimination of all offences was impossible.
Shirin Sultana, a member of the parliamentary committee, told TIMES that the committee had expressed satisfaction because crime had gradually declined.
“Criminals in many areas have been identified, and party leaders and activists have also received a message. The police have regained public confidence after overcoming the crisis,” she said, adding that the government had taken steps to address shortages of personnel, vehicles and police outposts.
But ASM Nasiruddin Elan, director of human rights organisation Odhikar, said there was little reason for the government to be satisfied.
“The situation has not changed at all compared with before. Many incidents are taking place for political reasons, and several are alarming,” he said.
Saidur Rahman, secretary of the Manabadhikar Shongskriti Foundation, questioned the credibility of police figures, accusing the authorities of concealing the true number of deaths.
He estimated that mob violence killed an average of 20-22 people a month and said the police often treated such incidents as normal.
Muhammad Omar Faruk, a professor in the Department of Criminology and Police Science at Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, said the parliamentary committee had relied on recorded incidents while many others remained outside official statistics.
Police spokesperson AIG Kamarum Munira said special operations had been under way since May to control extortion, snatching, juvenile gangs and other crimes. “Joint operations had produced successes in many areas,” she said.
The contrasting assessments leave a central question unresolved: whether the decline in some officially recorded offences reflects a genuine improvement in public safety or a statistical picture that fails to capture the insecurity experienced by people.
