DHAKA — Islami Andolan Bangladesh secretary general Hafez Mawlana Younus Ahmad said the country has recorded 854 murders in the past three months, averaging 284 per month and more than 9 a day.
Younus Ahmad said comprehensive reform of existing laws and the justice system is needed. Swift and exemplary punishment of criminals must be ensured, he said, and law-enforcement agencies must work with greater skill and sincerity.
Citing the country’s law-and-order situation, he said murders have been lower in 2025, the year after the mass uprising, and in the preceding year. In the first three months of this year, the country recorded 133 robberies, 439 snatchings and 2,318 thefts. Women and children were raped in 3,947 incidents. Police were attacked 147 times in three months. The scale of crime is alarming, he said. The country was governed for one-and-a-half of those three months under the elected government. Hopes that law and order would improve after the elected government took office have not materialized. In some cases, the situation has worsened, he said.
Younus Ahmad made the statement on Wednesday, April 22. He said that after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in the student-public uprising on Aug. 5, 2024, 5,763 firearms and 652,008 rounds of ammunition were looted from police stations and installations across the country. To date, 1,323 weapons and 257,144 rounds of ammunition remain unrecovered. There is concern that these weapons could be used in crimes. The overall law-and-order situation in the country is alarming, and public anxiety is running high, he said.
The Islami Andolan Bangladesh secretary general said weakness of the law is the main reason behind the rising crime. No matter how serious the offense, suspects can be released on bail within six months, he said. The rate at which final verdicts are reached and enforced is so low that fear of punishment does not register with criminals. As a result, criminals do not think twice before committing offenses. Combined with the lack of enforcement, administrators’ reluctance to arrest offenders, weak case filings even after arrest and failure to produce witnesses mean criminals are rarely properly tried, he said. As a result, murder, abduction, snatching and robbery are rising across the country.
Younus Ahmad said comprehensive reform of the existing laws and judicial system is needed. Swift and exemplary punishment of criminals must be ensured, he said, and law-enforcement agencies must work with greater skill and sincerity.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report