When police become the target of attacks
The officer-in-charge (OC) of a police station and a sub-inspector were injured after alleged muggers attacked them during an operation in Dhaka’s Adabor area. On the same day, in Lalmonirhat’s Aditmari upazila, local residents attacked officials and law enforcement personnel in an attempt to snatch away two detainees linked to the recovery of a child’s body found stuffed inside a sack.
The attack left 30 to 35 people injured, including the upazila’s Nirbahi Officer (UNO) and police personnel, and six government vehicles were set on fire.
A week earlier, in Cumilla’s Burichang, highway police vehicles were vandalised and officers assaulted following the seizure of banned three-wheeled vehicles on a highway.
Although these incidents occurred in different areas and under different circumstances, police officials do not view them as isolated events. According to police headquarters' data, at least 268 attacks on police personnel were recorded during the first five months of this year (January–May).
Since mid-June, three more major incidents have occurred. Between January 2025 and May this year, the total number of attacks exceeded 870. Police personnel have increasingly come under attack while making arrests, conducting anti-crime operations, or enforcing the law.
Sources concerned say that officers often face resistance or direct attacks while arresting suspects, conducting anti-crime drives, or carrying out law enforcement duties.
Such attacks are not carried out only by professional criminals. In many cases, local residents, political groups, relatives of suspects, or organised groups are also involved. In some places, mobs are formed in an effort to seize suspects or alleged offenders and administer their own form of “justice.”
According to those familiar with the situation, police came under intense criticism for indiscriminate shootings and attacks on students and protesters during the July mass uprising. After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, police personnel at all levels—from constables to the inspector general—went into hiding.
Officers were attacked in various parts of the country. Forty-four police personnel were killed during the uprising. The country’s policing system effectively collapsed, with police station operations remaining completely suspended for three days. Many officers widely viewed as collaborators in the previous government’s authoritarian rule remain fugitives.
Even after one and a half years of the interim government and four months under the current administration, many within the force believe the police have not fully recovered. Numerous field-level officers say they now encounter far greater resistance during operations than before.
People frequently intervene, record videos, confront officers, or attempt to alter situations by invoking political affiliations or mobilising mobs. Public respect for law enforcement has declined, while the police themselves have yet to fully regain the confidence needed to handle situations effectively or restore public trust.
Nature of the attacks Is changing
According to police headquarters, police personnel have faced attacks during operations in previous years as well. Between 2021 and 2024, an average of around 600 such incidents occurred annually. In 2025 alone, police were attacked in 601 incidents.
Field-level officers, however, say the nature of recent attacks has changed. Previously, many assaults occurred from a distance, in isolated locations, or under the cover of darkness. Now, a significant portion of attacks take place openly. Police are increasingly being surrounded while attempting arrests, obstructed during operations, hacked with sharp weapons, shot at, subjected to suspect-snatching incidents, and confronted with vandalism of official vehicles.
For example, on 9 June, two police officers were attacked while attempting to arrest a suspect wanted in a narcotics case in Savar, near Dhaka. The arrested suspect was subsequently freed by attackers. Police officers on the ground say such incidents not only increase operational risks but also affect morale. In some cases, police personnel have even been attacked inside police stations.
Many officers involved in crime control believe that widespread criticism of police for excessive use of force against protesters during the mass uprising has also affected the lawful use of force in the post-uprising period. According to them, criminals have taken advantage of the situation and become increasingly emboldened. Officers now face mob, shootings, and attacks with sharp weapons while carrying out operations.
An analysis of police headquarters data shows that 560 cases were filed during the first year of the interim government over attacks and harassment targeting police personnel. Of these, at least 225 incidents involved mob attacks on police between September 2024 and February 2025 alone.
The issue has been discussed at various police meetings over the past year and a half. Decisions taken at these meetings emphasised that police should not initiate attacks against offenders, but at the same time police personnel themselves must not become victims of attacks.
Following the assault on officers in Adabor, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner and Police Service Association President Mosleh Uddin Ahmed said police would use force in self-defence when confronted with attacks.
After the recent attack on police in Cumilla’s Burichang, directives were also issued from the highest levels of the force to take a tougher stance. Cumilla Superintendent of Police Md. Anisuzzaman told Prothom Alo that Police Headquarters had instructed that officers must not be allowed to become victims of attacks under any circumstances. Additional personnel are now being deployed where operations are considered risky. The goal, he said, is to prevent further damage to police morale.
Police are not the only law enforcement personnel facing such violence. Members of other agencies, including the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the Coast Guard, and the Department of Narcotics Control, have also come under attack. On 19 January this year, Motaleb Hossain Bhuiyan, an assistant director of RAB-7, was killed in an attack by criminals during a weapons recovery operation in Jangal Salimpur, Sitakunda, Chattogram. Earlier, on 23 September 2024, Lieutenant Tanzim Sarwar of the Bangladesh Army was killed in an attack by robbers during a joint forces operation in Dulahazara, Chakaria, Cox’s Bazar.
Tougher law enforcement, accountability
People familiar with the issue say the current law-and-order challenge is not merely a matter of rising crime. It is also closely tied to police morale, the principles governing the use of force, and the overall structure of public security. If attacks on police continue and the force fails to fully recover, enforcing the law at the field level will become increasingly difficult.
Former Inspector General of Police Abdul Qayyum told Prothom Alo that strong leadership is essential to overcome the fear and trauma that have developed within the police force. The leadership structure, he said, must send a clear message that the force will stand by officers who perform their duties lawfully. At the same time, he emphasised that police cannot continue operating as they did in the past. Greater transparency, professionalism, and accountability must be ensured. He also stressed that both the mentality of considering oneself above the law and the tendency to take the law into one’s own hands must be firmly suppressed.