In a bid to bring down crime and restore law & order, the Interim Government has launched a countrywide "combing operation" to arrest those involved in recent mob violence incidents coupled with combatting criminal activities.Home Adviser Jahangir AlamChowdhury announced the decision on Sunday after a meeting of the Advisory Council Committee on Law and Order at the Secretariat.
We welcome the much awaited drive, and make an urgent call to all to cooperate with the government, so to turn the combing drive into a resounding success.
In February of this year, the government launched "Operation Devil Hunt", a drive of the joint forces to maintain law and order across the country following a wave of attacks on students and common people. However, situation slightly improved but hadn't sustained in the face of growing newer challenges.
Though our law-enforcement agencies are already too occupied addressing all forms of crimes, including theft, mugging, and extortion and organised street violence, but current alarming reality warrants special measures.
In order to get a clear picture of the ominous reality, during the last five months including July, police recorded 1,587 murder cases - a steep rise from 1,265 in the same timeframe in 2024. Armed robbery cases more than doubled standing at 318 from 147 while robbery incident reports shot up to 821 up from 585. Crimes against women and children, including domestic violence and abuse, reached 9,100 cases - up from 7,313 last year. Kidnappings rose to 436 from 250, and burglary incidents also increased to 1,109 compared to 1,104 the previous year.Mob attacks carried out across the country reportedly claimed 89 lives, and 45 of them were reported in Dhaka alone.
In addition, the Human Rights Support Society reported growing cyber and gender-based crimes between January and June, documenting at least 29 incidents during those six months.
4.2 lakh people have been arrested since the Interim Government took charge early last August. As many as some 75,000 individuals have overwhelmed our prisons, and so far in this July, over 1,500 people on average have been arrested daily.
However, apart from improving country's overall law & order situation there is even a bigger challenge, unless the country's law & order situation is significantly improved within the shortest period, preferably by August, preparations and declaration of election schedule will be seriously hampered. The least we expect is anarchy and chaos to delay the upcoming elections, pushing the expected timeframe beyond February 2026.
Last but not least, while we welcome the latest "Combing Operation", we don't want to see any innocent civilian to be victimised or fall prey to abuse or misuse of power.
