The ledger of death is unrelenting. From December 2023 to February 2025, murders clocked in at more than 278 monthly, concentrated in gang hotspots like Dhaka, Chattogram, and Sylhet, per police data.

Even as Bangladesh ushers in a new era under the landslide victory of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in February’s historic elections, the nation’s streets remain battlegrounds of fear and bloodshed. In the 15 months leading up to March 2025 – a tumultuous stretch bookended by the 2024 student uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina’s regime and the dawn of interim rule – police records tallied over 4,177 murder cases nationwide. This harrowing statistic, intertwined with escalating inter-gang rivalries, rampant robberies, and audacious muggings, highlights a law and order crisis that the fledgling BNP government, led by Tarique Rahman, now inherits amid vows of sweeping reforms. As the party assumes power after securing a two-thirds parliamentary majority, analysts caution that entrenched criminal syndicates and lingering political scars could undermine the mandate for stability.

The violence’s origins lie in the summer of 2024 chaos, when protests against Hasina’s iron-fisted rule exploded into lethal skirmishes, claiming over 1,000 lives and shattering faith in institutions. What followed was a cascade of factional bloodletting, with gangs loosely tethered to Awami League diehards, BNP splinter groups, or freelance thugs clashing over extortion rackets and street dominance. “This isn’t random thuggery; it’s a calculated power grab in the ruins of old regimes,” observes Dr Khandaker Farzana Rahman, a Dhaka University criminologist. “The election win offers a reset, but without dismantling these networks, neighbourhoods will stay as fortresses of fear.”

Murders and Mob Fury Unabated

The ledger of death is unrelenting. From December 2023 to February 2025, murders clocked in at more than 278 monthly, concentrated in gang hotspots like Dhaka, Chattogram, and Sylhet, per police data. This outpaces prior benchmarks; 2024 alone notched around 4,114 killings by mid-year, propelled by the upheaval. Into 2025, the count swelled to 3,786 cases – a 10 per cent rise from the previous year’s full tally.

Mob rampages have compounded the slaughter. Between August 2024 and October 2025, 931 such episodes – rooted in political vendettas and gang skirmishes – snuffed out 237 lives, as detailed in a Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) analysis. The first nine months of 2025 witnessed 692 political flare-ups, felling 107 and wounding over 5,500, frequently ignited by BNP internal tussles over local committees and shakedown schemes. “Gangs draped in party colours have made bazaars and shanties execution grounds,” shares survivor advocate Fatima Begum, mourning her brother, hacked down in a Chattogram gang feud last year. Communal undercurrents add venom: 522 attacks on minorities in 2025 yielded 61 murders, which officials classify mostly as “opportunistic crimes” rather than hate-driven.

Vivid testimonies from the ground evoke the dread. In Dhaka’s volatile Mirpur, locals recount dusk-to-dawn sieges by machete-wielding crews and improvised firearms. “The cries, the shots – it’s endless siege warfare,” laments shop owner Raju Ahmed, who bolted his store after a January 2025 extortion bid escalated to arson.

Street Predation Escalates

Murders are but one thread in a broader tapestry of predation. Robberies and muggings, orchestrated by the very gangs fuelling internecine wars, ballooned 39 per cent in 2025, logging 702 robberies and 1,935 snatchings. Thefts rose 12 per cent to 9,672 incidents, while kidnappings for ransom more than doubled to 1,101, often masterminded by syndicate cells. All told, these predations hit 13,410 cases in 2025 – up 16.5 per cent year-over-year.

Urban epicentres bear the scars deepest. In Dhaka, snatch-and-grab assaults target women and wage workers on teeming transports or shadowed lanes. “Perpetrators thrive on police thinness; hit fast, fade quick,” says Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, former internal security adviser of the Interim government of Bangladesh. Chowdhury admits that post-uprising “strains” linger into the BNP era. Experts link the spike to streamlined reporting – boosting detections – yet also to a policing force bogged down by probes into past abuses and mass exits. Ex-political enforcers, repurposed as career crooks, fuse gang vendettas with daylight heists.

Vulnerable groups suffer disproportionately. Crimes against women and children dominated 2025 dockets, with 181,737 filings – encompassing rapes and abductions – edging up 6 per cent from 2024. A February 2025 Narayanganj horror, where a teen girl was seized and violated by a BNP-affiliated gang, exposes how partisan grudges bleed into intimate atrocities.

Gangs Exploit the Political Quagmire

Bangladesh’s gang inferno ignited in the 2024 revolt’s afterglow, which toppled Hasina after 15 years and birthed Yunus’s caretaker stewardship until the February 2026 polls. From August 2024 to December 2025, over 600 violence bursts – many gang-infused political hits – killed 158, per Asia News Network tallies. With 1,785 crimes-against-humanity probes ongoing, including 837 uprising-linked murders, clogged courts foster a culture of getaways.

Outlaws have burrowed deep, hijacking political facades. Transparency International Bangladesh pins 91.7 per cent of post-August 2024 aggressions on BNP-aligned outfits, with Awami League remnants at 20.7 per cent. Rohingya enclaves seethe with armed clashes between refugees and hosts, rippling nationwide. On the economic front, 40 per cent youth joblessness and galloping inflation – hitting 9.8 per cent in late 2025 – herd the idle into gang folds, lured by plunder’s promise.

Human Rights Watch lambasts the “explosive mob vigilantism,” calling for safeguards against assaults on journalists (340 incidents in 2025) and minorities. “Elections alone won’t staunch this; constitutional revival is key,” echoed the International Association of Democratic Lawyers in late 2025, a plea resounding as BNP takes the helm.

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