CRIME AND PUBLIC SECURITY IN BANGLADESH : SEPTEMBER 2024 – JUNE 2026

Abstract

This brief assesses crime and public-security conditions in Bangladesh between September 2024 and June 2026, drawing on 112 sources: press and institutional reporting; primary statistical tables from Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), the Manabadhikar Shongskriti Foundation (MSF), the Human Rights Support Society (HRSS), and Odhikar; the original Global Center for Democratic Governance (GCDG) mob-violence report; and official Police Headquarters and Dhaka Metropolitan Police crime data. Six findings are reported with confidence. First, police-recorded crime rose across most major categories, with murder cases increasing from 3,023 in 2023 to 3,786 in 2025. Second, mob-violence deaths reached their highest documented level in at least a decade. Third, reported sexual violence rose sharply, with a majority of victims under 18 across every source recording age. Fourth, violence affecting religious minorities is documented throughout the period, though the reported scale depends heavily on source and definition. Fifth, the offices of Bangladesh's two leading newspapers were looted and burned in December 2025, the first missed editions in each paper's history. Sixth, organised extortion re-established itself in Dhaka, with 1,280 active extortionists recorded by police in May 2026. Across all six areas, prosecutions and follow-through stall except where a case draws sustained public attention.