When Maydul Hassan shows for the first time, I think he hit Rock Bottom. But within a week, the 21-year-old student was beaten and theft again-this time, in front of the police, who, according to Hasan, stood up and did nothing.

Hassan, who participated last year An uprising led by students This has helped to exclude the Prime Minister for a long time, Sheikh Husaynah, and now he wonders what the nation has turned his life. “This is what I got in return,” he said. “The nation is drowning in the crime, no one seems to be interested.”

On February 13, a group of men installed an ambush at approximately 10 pm, while he was returning to the home from his part -time job in a technical company in the Mirbur area in the capital. The attackers took his Pixel 4XL phone, wallet, university identifier and headphones.

A few days later, on February 18, he was beaten and stolen. Attackers grabbed the new Google Pixel 7, which just bought a $ 400 loan, then they mocked him asking them to return it.

Hassan said that the police were stationed just meters. “I cried, begged, but the police did nothing.”

When Hassan later tried to file a complaint at the nearby police station, a local man claiming to be a member of Gateot Abadi Chatra Dal, the student of the National Party of Bengladesh (BNP), one of the main opposition parties who has gained influence since the arms of Hasina. “You do not need to provide this. I will find your phone,” the man assured him, accompanying him abroad – then demanded money in return.

Honorable, Hassan withdrew more than 3,500 Bangladeshi Taka ($ 29) from nearby ATMs. He soon realized that he had been deceived. Later, the man was also discovered that the man was also part of the student wing in Hasina, the Bangladeshtra Association (BCL)-a very comprehensive issue of political opportunism where members of the fallen parties overnightly make it to consensus with those in power.

Hassan eventually filed a complaint on the Internet, as he showed a copy of it to Al -Jazeera, but did not follow any police action.

“I live in a country where, even as a victim, they are harassed inside a police station. Criminals are walking freely, and they will have their power in front of the officers, and the police do nothing. Hassan wrote on a Facebook post, all they did is watch.”

Ali Ahmed Masoud, head of the Danmond Police Station, insisted on Hassan, that no one hindered a complaint. “From my understanding, perhaps there was an agreement to return the phone, and for this reason he initially chose not to provide public diaries [police complaint]Masoud said.

“But later, when he introduced one, we are actively working to restore the phone and take measures against Muggers.”

However, Masoud did not comment on the claim that police officers stood without interfering while he was attacked. “It is not about my knowledge yet. Masoud said:” I will see it. “

Safety on the edge

The ordeal of Hassan is not an isolated case. Bangladesh, habitat of 170 million people, suffers from the worst wave of crime in years. Since the fall of the government of Sheikh Hasina, the streets have grown increasingly risky. In January 2025, the police reported 242 cases of exit and theft – the highest number in six years – through Bangladesh.

At least 294 murders were recorded in January 2025, compared to 231 in the same month of the previous year. The robbery increased from 114 to 171, and kidnapping is more than weak. Police data also shows a sharp rise in robbery, theft and kidnapping in November and December last year, bypassing the numbers from the same period during the previous five years.

“These numbers are threatened,” said Najos Sakib, Assistant Professor of Criminology at Dhaka University. “People fought for democracy, but now they are afraid to get out of their homes. This does not give a positive sign about our law enforcement.”

However, retired Lieutenant General Jahangir Allam Chuoderi, responsible for the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Bangladesh, and the retired Leftnant, General Jahangir Allam Chuoderi, refused these concerns, claiming that the government is dealing appropriately with the increasing crime rate.

“You will feel tonight that our law enforcement activities have increased significantly,” Chaudhry told reporters at an emergency press conference at 3 am on February 24 – hours after a wave of confrontation in different parts of Daka among the population.

“I haven’t seen such a bad situation.”

In one incident, Anwar Hussein, a jeweler, was attacked outside his home while carrying gold worth about 28,100,000 Taka ($ 232,000) cash. Six men at motorcycles tried to extract his bag. When he resisted, they shot him and fled. With fiery wounds in both legs, Hussein is now undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The accident, which was captured on the video, went viral and sparked anger and protests across Dhaka, as the demonstrators are calling for the resignation of Chaudhry. Between February 1 and February 26, dozens of violent crimes – including murder, rape, theft and extortion – were reported in the local media, with heinous videos and direct accounts from the victims that were widely distributed on social media.

“There was stealing and extracting before, but now, it was out of limit,” said Rahma Olh, the driver of the vehicle in the fifties of the last century. He added that he “had not seen such a bad situation” for more than 17 years of work. And God said that his passengers were victims of the attacks as well.

“I used to save the money that you earned more than 15 to 20 days and sent it to the house through a bank. Now, no matter what I earn every day, send to the house immediately [via a mobile financial service]”

Nevertheless, the government was reluctant to recognize the crisis. Asif Nazirol, Advisor to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, acknowledged government palaces, but he insisted that the interim administration during the era of Nobel Prize winner Mohamed Yunus was doing everything in its power.

“Sometimes, the situation was good, sometimes very bad,” Nasul said. “But we are making unimaginable efforts to control the situation.”

For many Bangladeshites, these assurances are hollow.

The protests erupted through the campus of universities, led by many students’ groups, especially after a wave of rapes reported throughout the country – which can be achieved independently of at least 10. The demonstrators have called for the resignation of an immediate home affairs advisor and to take urgent measures to address the deteriorating law and the matter.

“My parents are worried every time I go out, and this is the reality of all women like me.” Iteter, one of the demonstrators, told Al Jazerera: “Life now feels no safety than ever.”

Tanvir Rivat, another protester, said that the insecurity was previously linked to the “thugs” in the Chatra League, a student wing in the Awami League in Hasina. Now, the Awami League disappeared, but the crime only grew.

“This is not the Bangladesh that we were hoping to see after the collective uprising. Rubat said:“ It seems as if everything can be extracted at any moment. ”He compared the“ Dhaka streets ”with Gotham, the imaginary capital that suffers from the crime from the world’s world.” However, unfortunately, we do not have Batman.

One of the main indicators for improving crime is whether people feel safe at home, abroad and during transportation.

Farissa Nasrat, a Dhaka University student, said that she avoids staying late. “My parents no longer allow this. Even if I stay, they continue to contact me.”

Many students of private universities are demanding different institutions now online lessons during Ramadan, pointing to safety concerns.

The government is fighting

On February 8, the government launched the Devil Hunt operation, a military campaign and a joint police aimed at addressing the wave of emerging crime. But while more than 9,000 arrests were performed, violent crime continues unabated.

Mobashar Hassan, a political analyst, believes that the interim government is struggling to preserve the system. “Unlike the elected government with a unified leadership chain, the current administration consists of numbers of different backgrounds with competing priorities,” he said to Al -Jazeera.

“Although there is no lack of crime curbing, its ability to do so remains limited.”

After Chaudhry, the internal affairs advisor, the press conference on February 24, the police arrested 248 people claiming to be involved in various criminal activities in different parts of Dhaka, within 24 hours.

But “arrests do not mean anything if we do not feel safe in the streets,” said Hassan, the 21 -year -old.

With the spread of fear, some citizens took security with their hands. In multiple neighborhoods, the local population has formed self -defense patrols, armed with sticks and batons to support the mixture. In one of the shocking cases, two suspected men were overcome and hung upside down from the Daka pedestrian bridge by an angry crowd on February 25. On the same night, another was exposed to the suspect’s death to death.

“This is what happens when people lose confidence in the application of the law – they resort to vigilance justice,” said Tawdel Al -Haq, Associate Professor at the Institute of Social Welfare and Social Research at Dhaka University.

In January alone, 16 people were killed in mob violence in the country, according to the law of law, where, Salsi Kindra.

Experts attribute the increase in crime to political turmoil after the removal of Al -Hasina.

“The sudden transformation of force creates turmoil and the emptiness of power – an environment in which the stations of law flourish,” said Sakib. “The criminals saw that this instability is an opportunity, and for this reason the crime reached its climax.”

Sakib also pointed out that the Bangladesh Police, the basic law enforcement agency, is struggling to restore the confidence of the public. “During the deadly protest against Al -Hasinah, the police were widely accused of human rights violations and considered it a deduction of the people. This loss in the” moral authority “was its ability to work effectively.”

Since the removal of Hasina August, the Yunus government has moved to the heads of each of the fifty police stations in Bangladesh, claiming to be close to the Hasina Party.

“New officers are not aware of the designated areas. They lack the informants and have no time to develop a comprehensive strategy to combat crime. He added that” all this has created a vacuum that criminals use. “

The Daka police officer, the capital, said that some of them are the other driving force behind the crime wave is to release the guarantee of convicted criminals – some of whom were previously included as “the most important horror” – after the political transition.

“We have reports that many of these individuals have returned to the crime, revived the old blackmail and gang operations,” the officer said, provided that his identity is not disclosed. “We are planning to appeal to cancel the guarantee, but the issue is that many of these criminals have been rescued through the influence of politicians who are now carrying power.”

“The collective guarantee of the quickly convicted criminals has been published, and a negative message is published to people in society. Although this is a judicial issue, the absolute speed in which the figures listed in terrorism were concerned. Public safety should have been carefully evaluated before these individuals were allowed to return to the streets.”

The weapons that were looted during the political uprisings also found their way to criminal hands, as it was filled with the rise in armed Muggings. Video clips of convincing gangs that practiced weapons were released on social media.

Hassan, the political analyst, argues that the democratically elected government will be more effective in restoring law and order.

He said, “The political government that the people elect will get more strength and legitimacy,” he said.

The interim government has not yet announced a tangible timetable for the elections. However, Yunus’s press secretary, Shafique Alam, told the media on February 24 that opinion polls could take place at the latest by March 2026.

But for many Bangladeshi youth, every day without a sense of security seems to be betrayal.

“We have moved to the streets last year for Bangladesh more secure, as the standard of living will be guaranteed by the state, and now we are at the mercy of criminals, and perhaps their care by politicians who will rule the country in the near future,” said Rubat, the protester.

“What is the point?”