Quota Reform Movement: Block raids unnerve Dhaka residents

July 29, 2024

DHAKA – City residents, still reeling from the shocks of deaths and destructions over the quota protests, are now feeling a fresh wave of fear.

Almost every day, a column of vehicles carrying law enforcers reaches some neighbourhoods, in some cases after sundown. Members of different forces jump off their vehicles, quickly cordon off the area and take position at different points. In some cases, their left hands grip the gun barrels with the right hand index fingers placed on the triggers.

An announcement through a megaphone hits the building walls and reverberates through the area: Go inside your home, don’t try to come out.

“Before conducting a drive, we collect the digital footprint and information provided by local sources including the ruling party men to identify the troublemakers and trace their whereabouts.”

— A police officer, requesting anonymity.

Panicked, locals do as they are told – a block raid begins.

Soon, internet connections at targeted homes get snapped and street lights go off one by one. Only the searchlights mounted on the law enforcers’ vehicles light parts of the area. In the next one to two hours, additional forces are called in, who then split into different groups and start raiding different houses.

This is how residents of at least eight areas in the capital shared their experience to The Daily Star.

The raids are creating further worries among the residents whose trauma is still fresh from the deaths of at least 162 people (according to this newspaper’s count; actual figure could be much higher) in recent violence centring the quota protest.

The eight areas that saw such raids are Matuail, Shanir Akhra, Jatrabari, Kajla, Bashundhara, Shahinbagh, Mirpur DOHS, ECB Chhattar and Matikata.

During the raid, law enforcers knock on the door, get inside and arrest anyone suspected to have been involved in violence or were in contact with any troublemakers, police and locals said.

Joint forces have been conducting the block raids in different areas of the capital and other parts of the country to arrest those suspected to have been involved in the violence centring the quota protests.

STUDENTS ARE TOP TARGET

Till yesterday police confirmed 2,536 arrests while Rab arrested 71 in the capital alone.

“Before conducting a drive, we collect the digital footprint and information provided by local sources including the ruling party men to identify the troublemakers and trace their whereabouts,” an officer said, requesting anonymity.

Law enforcers say these raids are meant to arrest four types of suspects — those who ordered violence, provided funds, supplied firearms and those who took part in the violence.

But locals who witnessed such raids say law enforcers usually look for students, and if they find any, they check their phones, which is a breach of privacy.

“On Friday night, numerous police loaded in five trucks and many police vans and other vehicles cordoned off our area. They ordered students from many buildings to go on to the streets and stand in a single file. The street lights were off, but the headlights of their vehicles were directed at us. They said they would not arrest us this time, but we must leave Dhaka in three days,” a student of a top public university said.

As the students said they offered private tuitions to support their education and so they cannot leave Dhaka now, some officers hit them and asked them to “shut up,” the student said.

The Daily Star is not naming the student and the area where the raid took place for his safety.

Locals also saw helicopters flying low during these raids in some cases.

‘AUXILIARY FORCES’

On Wednesday night, police arrested Fazlur Rahman, a manager at a courier service, from Manik Nagar during such a raid.

“Police checked Fazlur’s cell phone and found a video clip of the clashes. This is why they arrested him,” said one of his relatives, on condition of anonymity fearing reprisal.

Biplob Kumar Sarkar, joint commissioner (operation) of the DMP, said they will make sure that no troublemaker can leave Dhaka.

“The miscreants have gone into hiding, but we have been conducting block raids. Besides, police drives are underway day and night in Dhaka. No matter where they flee, we will arrest them,” Biplob told a media briefing.

Sources in law enforcement said they already identified several thousand people who joined violence at different points in Dhaka.

A top DMP official said the plan to conduct violence was hatched at least a month ago by opposition party leaders and activists.

For the block raids, areas like Mohakhali, Mohammadpur, Jatrabari, and Uttara are on top of the list as some of the fiercest clashes took place in these areas.

Left Democratic Alliance (LDA), a platform of eight left-leaning parties; Anti-Fascist Leftist Association, a platform of six parties; and Bangladesh Jasod yesterday said the mass arrest of innocent students and people by flashing searchlights from helicopters during block raids joined in by Chhatra League-Jubo League activists to track down the protesting students and other people brings to mind the activities of Razakar, Al badr and other collaborators who aided the Pakistani army as auxiliary forces to identify the houses of freedom fighters.

A statement of the platforms demanded “an immediate end to repression, torture and mass arrests, withdrawal of curfew, return of army personnel to barracks and ensure normal environment.”

PANIC ALL AROUND

The block raids have created a sense of fear among students and their families in many parts of Dhaka. Many of these families have already left their homes and seeking every opportunity to leave Dhaka, said witnesses.

“Before searching every room, police at first took photos of our rooms and houses and asked us not to talk to anyone about the raids,” said Toufiq (not his real name), a university student form Shanir Akhra of Jatrabari.

He said police searched a six-storey building where he lives and vandalised some apartments before leaving the place late on Friday night.

“Many of our neighbours turned off the lights in their rooms so that police believe those flats were vacant,” he said.

At one point, police started kicking at the main gate of their building. As the security guard and the houseowner opened the gate, police said they came for two men named Shahjahan and Rezwan, who allegedly attacked cops.

When the houseowner said there were no such people living in the building, several police officers in plainclothes started beating them and hurled abusive language.

“We know you have given them shelter. Tell us where?”

Around 50-60 armed police personnel, some in plainclothes and some wearing DB vests, were there, he said.

“From our balcony we saw some policemen beat up two people for several minutes, forced them to do sit-ups and made them say they will never participate in protest again,” he said.

FEAR OF HELICOPTERS AGAIN

Many families in Jatrabari shared almost similar accounts.

“The local Chhatra League activists also joined the police during the raid and helped them identify houses where protesters live or the houses that provided food and water to them,” said a witness to a block raid in Matuail.

A large number of law enforcers carried out raids on different houses in Mirpur 12 DOHS. Many students of different universities located near DOHS live there.

They said that during the raids, they looked for students and police checked their phones.

Witnesses from areas adjacent to ECB Chattar and Matikata area also said law enforcers carried out block raids in their areas too.

Late on Thursday night, a joint operation was conducted in Shaheen Bagh area of the capital. At that time, locals saw helicopters flying low and using searchlights.

“Use of searchlights from helicopters was terrifying,” said a witness, recalling the memories of such choppers opening fire on the protesters.

‘THIS IS NOT FAIR’

Locals from Bashundhara residential area said law enforcers conducted raids in the posh neighbourhood on Thursday night. Before the raids, police announced that no one should remain out of the house after 5:00pm. As the evening wore on, the presence of law enforcers increased.

A video footage shows members of the law enforcers firing when someone tries to capture the raid from top a building. The video went viral on social media.

In Mohakhali, electricity connection was snapped before a block raid.

Panicked, many families left their homes and took shelter elsewhere for safety.

In Jatrabari for example, The Daily Star found several homes empty.

“Among 22 families living in our building, there are only eight now. All other families have left Dhaka. Those who could not leave are thinking of shifting to someplace else,” said a resident in Jatrabari.

“Police are making the common people extremely nervous. This is not fair, and it will not help improve the situation,” he said.