Saqlain Rizve
It was a cold night on February 28 at Patenga beach in Chittagong, the port city of Bangladesh, when Sub-Inspector Yusuf Ali, who had recently transferred from the River Police, noticed some young men smoking cannabis, which is illegal in Bangladesh. Yusuf warned them and let them go after they apologized. But the young men soon came back with more people. They grabbed Yusuf by his collar, tore his uniform, tied him up, and beat him badly. A video of the beating showed Yusuf crying and saying he is a police officer; however the mob ignored it and called him “fake” police. The incident went viral on social media.
A week later, on the night of March 6-7, another event occurred at Dhaka’s Shahbagh Police Station. A group of Islamist men attempted to storm the station and free a suspect who had been arrested for allegedly harassing a female student at the University of Dhaka.
Not long after that, on March 18 in the capital’s Khilkhet area, another group of police officers was attacked by a mob when they tried to arrest a teenager accused of rape. The angry crowd took away the suspect and badly injured him, along with seven officers. They also damaged a police van.
These incidents are not isolated; rather they show that police personnel still face great dangers and challenges while doing their jobs a full 10 months after the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the police agency’s collapse. During the month-long student led uprisings that led to Hasina’s flight, some 1,400 people were killed by the law enforcement agencies, especially the police force, and agents affiliated with Hasina’s Awami League.
The authorities reported that 44 police personnel were killed by demonstrators during the protests, including 24 who were murdered on August 5, 2024, the day Hasina fled the country. The protesters sought revenge against the police, whom were labeled perpetrators of “genocide.” Mobs attacked police stations, and the force went on strike for their own safety.
In the end, the Bangladesh Army had to leave its barracks in order to control the situation.
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