A routine anti-drug patrol in Dhaka’s iconic Suhrawardy Park spiraled into violence on Monday evening, injuring multiple journalists, a Dhaka University student, and an officer. The botched operation has sparked outrage over excessive force and lack of accountability.
According to Ramna Deputy Commissioner Masud, 60-70 officers from Dhaka Metropolitan Police descended on the park to curb nighttime drug use in its secluded jungle-like sections. Operations like this are standard, but this one involved detaining 7-8 suspects briefly for intimidation purposes—no formal charges filed.
Chaos erupted when police encountered a group of DU students. Anthropology major Naeem Uddin, captured on video being assaulted post-argument, insisted they were innocently leaving a multilingual poetry gathering. ‘We had no drugs; they just grabbed and beat us during the talk,’ he said, accusing officers of seizing his phone and holding him incommunicado at the station.
Journalists Kowser Ahmed Ripon (Ajker Patrika) and Tofayel Ahmed (Banglanews24) fared no better. Ripon intervened in Tofayel’s beating, prompting police to turn on him—snatching his device and pummeling both. A constable was meanwhile slashed above the eye with a sharp object.
Police maintain the park’s dark hours attract dealers and users hiding in thickets. DC Masud defended the response, saying journalists weren’t identifiable without neck badges or IDs. Reporters vehemently deny this, calling the assault intentional amid growing media-police frictions.
Dhaka Tribune reports underscore the incident’s gravity, with calls for probes into both injuries and operational tactics. This flare-up reveals deeper issues in Bangladesh’s war on drugs, where aggressive policing risks alienating the public it aims to protect.